Up for Grabs: Players of the Dynamo Club and NF Railway engage in a goalmouth mele during their match at Nehru Stadium on Tuesday. Picture by Eastern Projections

Guwahati, July 8: Last year’s runners-up Dynamo Club edged their way into the semifinal of the 4th N.N. Bhattacharjee Invitation Football Tournament, organised by the Guwahati Sports Association, defeating NF Railway SC by 2-1 goals in the first quarter-final held at Nehru Stadium, today.

In a battle of nerves, the railmen gained the upper hand in the 37th minute when Prasanta Bharali netted the first goal of the match.

However, the celebration for the NF Railway bench was cut short as S.K. Jahangir Hussain of Dynamo Club found an equaliser only three minutes later.

His long ranger from midfield caught the advancing NF Railway custodian Bijoy Sonowal off-guard.

Though stopper Sushanta Majumdar was behind Sonowal under the crosspiece, his efforts to thwart the attempt made by Hussain proved futile.

In the second half, the Dynamo men regrouped for an attack right from the word go and left little room for the railmen to launch any counter-offensive throughout the session.

The pressure tactic yielded in the 55th minute when Dynamo got the opportunity to net the match-winner when they were awarded a penalty kick.

Raja Guha Thakurta made no mistake in converting the spot kick into a goal for the win.

The railmen had earlier inflicted a 3-0 defeat on Young Amateur Club to book a berth in the quarter-final on Friday. On the other hand, Dynamo made a direct entry into the quarter-finals of the tournament by virtue of being last year’s runners-up.

In tomorrow’s second quarter-final encounter, Jewel Star Club will play Sports Authority of India SC.