BY Calcutta, March 21 :
BY A STAFF REPORTER
Salgaocar 2 JCT 0
In an empty Salt Lake Stadium, that perhaps provided the perfect requiem for the tournament, champions Salgaocar ended their Coca-Cola National League campaign on a feisty note. Goals from Shabbir Ali Mondal and Bruno Coutinho gave them a 2-0 win over JCT.
The three points Salgaocar wanted from their tenth tie today took their tally to 23. JCT wound up with nine points and must now await the result of the Mohun Bagan-FC Kochin tie to know where they finish.
Mondal celebrated his rare presence in the starting line-up with a 37th minute strike. He exploited JCT left-back Daljit Singh?s lax marking inside the six-yard box and stabbed home Bruno Coutinho?s lob into the far post.
Bruno?s goal too resulted from some ordinary defending. Two players converged on Jules Alberto but failed to prevent the medio from floating one goalwards. The cross beat JCT goalie Virender Singh and travelled to Bruno, unmarked inside the penalty-box, who completed the formalities.
Like against East Bengal, JCT began on a promising note. Hardeep Sangha?s fifth-minute run down the left culminated in a pass which Surjeet Singh couldn?t control inside the six-yard box. In the 18th minute, Hardeep Gill sped down the middle and set up Sangha but the latter wasn?t able to get into a shooting position.
After the breather, JCT pushed for the equaliser. But tardy finishing and wayward long-range shooting took the sting out of their domination. Jasbir Singh headed out a 40-yard Dipankar Roy free-kick from close, two minutes into the second half. Then Sukhjit Singh ballooned over after a good run on the right.
S. Venkatesh ensured that traffic didn?t stay entirely one way but shot out with only Virender to beat. Soon after came the insurance goal and that, as they say, was that.
Salgaocar manager Leo Fernandes said the Goa governor would be hosting a reception for the team tomorrow evening. Shabbir Ali said the players will get Rs 10,000 each for the Mohun Bagan match. The team will now play the Police Cup, a local tournament being revived after 10 years.
TEAMS
SALGAOCAR: Upendra Mansingh (Bharat Morje, 81st); Coven Lawrence, Roberto Fernandes, Sanjay Parte, Roque Pereira; Augustine Rodrigues (Jose Esteves, 66th), Jules Alberto (Alvito D?Cunha, 83rd), Habib Adenkule, S. Venkatesh; Bruno Coutinho, Shabbir Ali Mondal.
JCT: Virender Singh; Sukhdev Singh, Tarsem Lal, Kuldip Singh, Daljit Singh; Jasbir Singh (Bhupinder Singh, 75th), Dipankar Roy, Ram Pal, Hardeep Sangha (Hardeep Singh Saini, 44th); Surjit Singh (Sukhjit Singh, 52nd), Hardeep Gill.
Referee: Kalidas Mukherjee.





