The Phagwara team entered Friday's semis, where they meet Churchill Brothers. Later, Salgaocar outplayed Mohammaden Sporting (Dhaka) 2-0 to top Group A and set up a clash with Mahindras on Saturday.

Air-India had a new-look defence, the realignment probably a result of the three bizarre minutes against Sporting that saw them concede three goals. Partha Das, who came in as substitute for goalkeeper MY Ansari against Sporting, retained his place.

Right-back Henry Picardo, from whose side two goals emanated, did not start.Radhakrishna Dube played in centre of defence with Taposh Ghosh in the right. The big surprise was the absence of Anthony Fernandes, who had a good game against Sporting. Air-India, needing a win, did not show any sparkle in the first half. In fact, Das kept them in the match with two great saves.

The local side looked more menacing in the second session. They showed purpose in their attacks and repeatedly broke through with ground passes. Anthony came in for Herbert Philips and made an immediate impact with a lob that grazed the bar before falling out.

Godfred Pereira's combination with Khalid Jamil and Khambiton worked so well that they got into at least four one-on-one situations with the goalkeeper. But they failed to make capital with weak essays.

JCT were ever ready for a counter one such move resulting in Sukhjit slamming the ball past Das.

SALGAOCAR IMPRESSIVE:
Salgaocar scored two goals in what was an impressive performance. They could have added to their tally after Brazilian Joao Pereira Doa Santos earned a penalty after being tripped by Bhaktiruddin. Venkatesh's spot kick, to the left of goalkeeper Mohd Reazul Hakim, was brilliantly saved.

Habib Addenkunle scored Salgaocar's first in the 17th, off a corner taken by Alvito D'Cunha. The second came in the 50th minute, Francis Coelho heading in Alvito's cross.

In Tuesday's matches, Mahindras trounced BMFC 4-1, Manjit Singh and Abbas Rizvi scoring twice each. Santosh Singh got the consolation for BMFC.Francis Silveira also scored twice for Churchill with Marcus Carvalho and substutite Kaustav Ghosh getting the other goals.