JCT Mills overcame an early setback to force a 1-1 draw against Tollygunge Agragami in a National Football League match in Ludhiana on Wednesday.
Medio Saumik Dey put the Kolkatans ahead three minutes before half time but the Millmen regrouped and restored parity through Sukhwinder Singh in the 84th minute to walk away with a vital point at the Guru Nanak Stadium.
JCT now have 12 points from ten matches while Tollygunge are on 11 points after nine encounters.
Tollygunge's goal came after foreign recruit Suley Musah combined with Dey to invade the rival territory. Dey then produced a sizzling shot which went into the net despite defender Harpreet Singh managing to come in its way.
The second half saw JCT players going allout for the equaliser. They made repeated attacks on the rival goal but failed to restore parity.
The hosts wasted atleast a dozen of scoring opportunities midway into the second session with Jaswinder Singh being the main culprit as he missed a couple of gilt edged chances.
JCT, however, continued with the pressure tactics which ultimately yielded results.
In the 83rd minute, captain Ram Paul attemped a powerful shot which Tollygunge custodian Arindam Ghose failed to gather cleanly. The rebound rolled to an advancing Sukhwinder who made no mistake with his header.
The two teams fought tooth and nail in the dying minutes to grab the winner as the ball floated on either ends.
JCT coach Sukhwinder Singh was a disappointed man and said his boys deserved to win.
"The boys played extemely well and were in control of the proceedings, but squandered away the scoring chances which came their way. We could have won by four-five goals," he said.
Tollygunge coach Biswajit Das too was unhappy that his side failed to hold on the lead in the last minutes.
JCT Mills now host Kerala side State Bank of Travancore on February 28 while Tollygunge moves to Goa for a clash against Vasco Sports Club.
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