EB victory hands Dempo NFL title

KOLKATA, May 15: Alvito D'Cunha's inconsistency has been the bane for East Bengal this season but true to his wont the Goan midfielder dazzled to outshine Mahindra United at the Salt Lake Stadium on Tuesday.
Though the National Football League title was lost long ago this season and the East Bengal skipper cannot deny his responsibility for that, Alvito found an able partner in 'Mr Consistent' Jayanta Sen to decimate Mahindra United 2-1, after being down by a goal.
The loss was cheered not only by East Bengal. Far on the west coast, Dempo can start celebrating as they emerged champions with one match to spare. They are on 33 points and none of the chasers can reach that mark.
Mahindra, however, tried to spoil Dempo's party when the East Bengal defence was caught cold by NP Pradeep's long punt. Andrew Mensah flicked home to give Mahindra the lead.
It seemed for a while that the home side was going to throw in the towel till Alvito and his diminutive partner sparked off the fightback. On the stroke of half-time, Alvito launched into one of trademark runs, leaving in his wake a couple of Mahindra defenders to set up the lanky Bonyface Ambani with an inch-perfect through pass.
The Kenyan striker fired home the equaliser. Such was their confidence that the famed Mahindra midfield, flaunting names like S Venkatesh, K Ajayan, Steven Dias, remained mere spectators.