JCT, Phagwara, and Goa's Dempo Sports Club played out a lacklustre 1-1 draw but still booked semi-final berths in the 119th Durand Cup football tournament, in Delhi, on Friday.
In a Group II quarter-final league match, Mandeep Singh (64th minute) put the Punjab side ahead but Isfaq Ahmed equalised three minutes later for the Goans.
Both teams collected five points from one victory and two draws. JCT, however, topped the group on better goal difference of four to Dempo's one.
JCT will play Group I runners-up Sporting Clube de Goa while Dempo take on Group I winners Mohun Bagan in Saturday's semi-finals.
Later, in an inconsequential match of the group, East Bengal suffered a humiliating 1-2 defeat at the hands of defending champions Army XI.
It was the Kolkata league champions' second defeat, having lost 0-4 to JCT on Wednesday. They finished last in the group with just one point, earned from a draw against Dempo.
Vijay Thapa (48th minute) and Hemant Lama (68th) scored for Army XI while Alvito D'Cunha found the target in the 54th minute for the 16-time champions.
Having virtually assured themselves of semi-final berths before Friday's match by virtue of three point lead over East Bengal and Army XI and better goal difference, JCT and Dempo played an agonisingly dull and drab first half and the first shot on goal by any side was by JCT's Bimal Birua, in the 58th minute.
But after that the match suddenly came to life and a Daljit Singh throw-in from the right touchline fell in front of Parveen Kumar after a tussle inside the penalty box and the JCT striker sent a volley that crashed into the net.
Dempo took just three minutes to find the equaliser and Isfaq Ahmed blasted a low drive from inside the JCT box after being fed by captain Roberto Silva (Beto).
Once the JCT-Dempo tie ended in a draw, the match between East Bengal and Army XI was reduced to an academic affair, but the defending champions and the Kolkata giants played for pride.
They shared honours in the barren first session, which saw Army's Vijay Thapa firing over the bar in the 15th minute after the ball ricocheted off the goalkeeper, who failed to properly hold a Thirunavakarsu long ranger.
In the 32nd minute, East Bengal's Hardeep Singh Saini failed to place the ball into the net when the rival goalkeeper was out of position and Army defender S Ramesh cleared it for a corner.
Three minutes into the second half, Vijay Thapa fired a low volley into the net after a goalmouth tussle to put Army XI in the lead.
Six minutes later, captain D'Cunha scored East Bengal's first goal of the tournament, firing a low shot after Freddy Mascarenhas got a the better of a couple of defenders and sent a diagonal pass to D'Cunha from near the goaline.
But the gritty Army outfit exposed the chinks in the East Bengal defence when Hemant Lama scored in the 68th minute to register the team's only victory in the tournament.
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