NEW DELHI, June 21: Burdened with the National Football League champions' tag, Jagatjit Cotton and Textile Mills, Phagwara, begin their search for a new identity tomorrow. Their star trappings ripped away; their ego pricked by poachers from FC Kochin, the very nature of the quest will be the highlight of their inaugural match of the new season, against Goan powerhouse Churchill Brothers in their crucial Kalyani Black Label Federation Cup quarter-final match.

Adding spice to the contest is the news that JCT has drafted two Nigerian strikers -- Abdul Latif Sireke and Achilefu -- in the team for this season. Sireke -- who has played for Lagos' premier division side, Niger Docks -- was in the probables list for the country's acclaimed Atlanta odyssey last year.

However, the sides' plan to cling on to Stephen have not quite worked out as the lanky striker has opted to play for Sembaran, a Malaysian state side. The plot thickens with stopper Musa missing his flight -- and this match -- from Lagos, and new recruit Tauseef Jamal yet to recover from the injury he suffered during India's campaign in this year's Nehru Cup.

Then, there is the emotional angle with the Phagwara's `son of the soil' Tejinder Kumar playing for and leading the opposition this time. In fact, the bitterness that spilled over from this season's transfer tamasha seems to be still fresh in JCT minds. There was no other explanation for club owner Samir Thapar, expressing disappointment at the performance of his prime assets of last season I M Vijayan and Baichung Bhutia. ``Their performance was below par and we were not happy with their discipline,'' he said, even as he watched his boys go through the motions at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, this evening.

In contrast, the Churchill Brothers' coach Danny McLennan faces a problem of plenty, despite the absence of Khalid Tamsa (in midfield) due to a groin injury and Percy Mwase (upfront), who is presently in Zimbabwe.

The Scottish tactician still has the midfield savvy of Tejinder Kumar and Aqueel Ansari and the thrust of Chibuzor and Kasif Jamal to give concrete shape to his gameplan.

And, if JCT has managed a coup of sorts by flashing the two Nigerian trump cards virtually in the last minute, then Churchill Brothers have played their part in the game of bluff by fielding Sri Lankan import Indika Perreira. In the event, the battle tomorrow promises to be a mental one as much as it will be of skill and speed.

Dempo trounce SBT: Dempo, Goa, blanked State Bank of Travancore (SBT) 2-0 in the Federation Cup pre-quater final match at Lal Bahadur Stadium at Hyderabad today.

Dempo, who scored a goal in each half, would now meet ITI in the quarter-final match slated for June 28 at Bangalore. For the Goan outfit, Rajesh Meetei and Francis Silviera scored a goal each.

Rajesh lobbed over the SBT goalkeeper to score the goal in the 10th minute after a pass from Brazilian Anderson Rebiero from the left had set him up.Seventy minutes later Dempo scored their second goal with another Brazilian touch to it. Joao Soares intercepted an SBT pass, switched it over to substitute Agnelo Miranda who set up Francis Silviera, who smashed into the goal.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.