The young TFA boys, a shade inexperienced, used up their energy in a pacy first half that saw them earn innumerable scoring chances. All they had before the break was an equaliser, that may well count as the best goal of the meet so far.

They were unfortunate in the second minute when a Mohammad Qaiser header came off the Bagan post. A brilliant rocket-like 25-yarder by TFA's Zaheer Abbas in the 13th minute had Bagan goalkeeper Hemant Dora hopping desperately to punch away. The young boys from Jamshedpur were on a high and Bagan, fresh from their victory in IFA Shield, were clearly unnerved.

Bagan openedthe account in the 25th minute, although the goal appeared to be a piece of good luck. Satyajit Chatterjee's wayward attempt off a Lolendro Singh flag-kick landed at Debjit Ghosh's feet. The tall defender just had to stretch his leg to give the ball the right direction.

Three minutes later, TFA equalised through a very organised move. Abbas' floater from the centre found Alex Ambrose free on the right. Ambrose put the ball in the Bagan box and Qaiser charged in to equalise. Another similar move later in the first half was too wide for Qaiser to trap.

The game continued at a much slower pace, to Bagan's liking, in the second essay. The winning goal came from a throw-in in the 70th minute. Debjit Ghosh back-headed Amitava Chanda's throw-in for Kasif Jamal to score.

ONE-SIDED: The East Bengal-PSEB match was a one-sided affair with Raman Vijayan putting the Calcutta side ahead in the seventh minute. Nigerian Jackson lifted an Anit Ghosh flag-kick high enough for Vijayan to take a half-volley into the PSEBnet. The second goal came 65 minutes later with Vijayan putting the ball in Tushar Rakshit's path, whose deft touch beat PSEB goalkeeper Jatinder hands down.

With six minutes of play remaining, Nigerian Kennedy made it 3-0 after receiving the ball from Ghosh, put through by Rakshit. Monday's fixture (Group B): FC Kochin vs Gorkha Brigade 1 pm; (Group C): East Bengal vs BSF 2.45 pm.