Armando Colaco's admonishment to his players before the start of Dempo's seventh round I-League clash against Air-India, who had surprised them in the Durand Cup quarters last month, did the trick.
The Goan miners rallied splendidly to gun down their rivals 4-1 at the Cooperage on Thursday and erase memories of that defeat. The game was tied 1-1 at half-time.
Although there was no talk of revenge, the Goan coach had nevertheless thrown a challenge to his wards earlier. 'If you allow Air-India to win again it will prove we are no good. We must get those three points today,' he had said.
And so they did, in fine style too, as Nigerian strikers Chidi Edeh and Ranty Martins, despite not appearing in the pink of fitness, struck a brace each to prolong the defending champions' stay at the top of the table.
Dempo now have 17 points from five wins and two draws, five more than second-placed JCT, who, however, have a match in hand.
In fact, Dempo could have rattled up a tennis score as Edeh and midfielder Climax Lawrence struck the cross piece in the second half.
The airmen are seventh in the table with seven points after their second loss. They have just one win besides four draws.
The visitors had an indifferent first session despite Edeh putting them in the lead in the 36th minute which was neutralized by Njoh Jean a minute before lemon time. The Cameroon striker managed to guide the ball into the net despite being harried by three defenders.
Jean was, however, guilty of spurning a guilt edged chance early as the Dempo defenders kept on fumbling repeatedly.
In the second session however, the champs found their bearings as Climax Lawrence and the peerless Brazilian Beto struck a good rhythm in the midfield.
In the 61st minute, Edeh took the Air-India defence by surprise, launching a fierce grounder from about 30 yards which deflected off stopper back Dhanachandra Singh and whizzed past custodian Raju Ekka.
The hapless Dhanachandra compounded this misfortune with a costly miss-pass in the 68th minute which grounded Air-India's resistance as Lawrence seized on it, ran down the right flank and crossed for skipper Martins to do the damage at the far post.
Martins' fourth strike in the 77th minute was a classic. The Nigerian received the ball along the
right wing shook off marker Nirmal Chettri with a body feint, cut swiftly into the box and unleashed a sizzler which beat Ekka all ends up.
The Goans can now enjoy a merry Christmas content with the lead before they take on Mahindra United at home on December 28. Air-India also haul up there for a meeting with bottom-placed Sporting Clube de Goa a day later.
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