Calcutta: A 36th minute Keita Mandjou equaliser helped Pune FC eke out a 1-1 draw with the Pailan Arrows in an IFA Shield Group C match, at the East Bengal ground, on Sunday.

Holicharan Narzary had given the lead to Arrows in the 16th minute.

It was a scrappy encounter where both the teams lacked direction and played without purpose.

The midfielders lacked creativity and could not develop any moves. The strikers, too, were off target on most of the occasions. Derrick Pereira, Pune FC’s coach, admitted that his side was not up to the mark.

“We were very rusty today (Sunday). But I don’t blame my players. When you are coming off from a break, you need good conditions to shake off that rust. But the ground had uneven bounce and the players took time to adjust,” Pereira said.

Subrata Paul, Pune FC’s goalkeeper, who made a return to competitive football after four months, agreed with his coach. “I am never satisfied with my performance and my team’s performance… We always strive for betterment. But we had a really tough time today. It was warm and the ground was unevenly rolled,” Subrata said.

Coming to the goals, Arrows drew the first blood when Alwyn George played a through pass to Holicharan, who beat the offside trap to slot home a right-footer.

Pune FC then made some forays into Arrows’ citadel. Prathamesh Maulingkar brought down Subash Singh after the striker made his way into the opponent box.

Referee Andrew Shekar immediately pointed to the dreaded spot and Keita didn’t make any mistake converting the chance calmly to restore parity.

But the Arrows could have found the winner had Tirthankar Sarkar not missed a sitter in the 51st minute.

In the other match of the day, at the Howrah Stadium, Southern Samity got past Chirag Kerala 1-0. Sovon Chakraborty was the scorer for the winners.

Teams

Arrows: Naveen Kumar, Prathamesh Maulingkar, Deepak Devrani, Lalrozama Fanai, Preetam Kotal, Avinabo Bag, Bikramjit Singh, Milan Singh, Tirthankar Sarkar (Bijendra Rai 68’), Alwyn George, Holicharan Narzary

Pune FC: Subrata Paul, Othallo Tabia, Anas Edathodika, Caitano Costa, Kamaljeet Singh, Karma Tsewang, Arata Izumi, Douhou Pierre, Venkatesh Shanmugam (Maninder Singh 66’), Subash Singh (Jeh Williamson 76’), Keita Mandjou.

Referee: Andrew Sekhar

Man of the match: Prathamesh Maulingkar