Dynamos play out another draw

NEW DELHI: 'Oh Bete!' exclaimed a fan sitting next to the media wing, as his voice echoed in the near empty stadium. A common phrase used by Delhiites to express surprise or wonder, his remark was obviously intended at Pune goalkeeper Edel Bete.

The 30-year-old goalkeeper from Cameroon kept the disappointing turnout enthralled with some marvellous saves and survived a barrage of attacks from the Delhi Dynamos players, here at the

Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium

on Thursday. The two teams, however, continued their practice of producing stalemates as the

ISL

match ended in a 1-1draw. The teams got a point each and maintained their respective sixth and seventh positions in the points table. In fact, this was the fourth draw of the season for Delhi and third for Pune.

Once again, the Dynamos were off to a strong start with captain

Florent Malouda

,

David Addy

and Richard Gadze troubling the Pune defenders and once again, they struggled to beat the keeper. Bete, who was tested at least five times in the first half, came up with some acrobatic efforts a dive to the right, a full stretch to the left and a few deflections over the crossbar.

As the bouncers asked the fans to sit in sections 'directly in front of the TV camera', Pune managed to break the deadlock towards the end of the first half. Rahul Bheke's cross found

Jesus Rodriguez Tato

in the box, whose looping header hit the post and, to the surprise of many, went in even as Delhi defender

Anas Edathodika

tried his best to keep it out.

Delhi, having developed a habit of equalising in the last minutes, managed to beat Bete in the 79th minute. Marcelinho found

Milan Singh

down the right and the midfielder placed a low shot to the far corner to spoil Bete's perfect night. With ISL being in the news for poor refereeing, the Sri Lankan referees, however, came up with a consistent performance.