Mahindra United bid adieu to professional football in style, defeating JCT 2-1 in their final I-League encounter at the Cooperage here on Thursday. First half goals from Sukhwinder Singh (33rd minute) and Paresh Shivalkar (43rd) gave the Mumbai outfit a 2-0 advantage at half time.
JCT tried to make a come back with a 48th minute strike through Henry Ezeh but Mahindra showed resolve to keep them at bay in the remainder of the match.
The victory boosted Mahindra to the third in the league standings with 41 points and they will remain there if Churchill Brothers are unable to take a point in their concluding tie on Friday against Mumbai‘s Air India.
JCT are fifth in the standings with 32 points.
Mahindra and JCT took time to get into their groove in the extreme heat. The local outfit jumped into the lead when Sukhwinder’s left-footer went into the far corner of the net off a pass from Shivalkar.
JCT missed two golden chances to draw level in the space of three minutes, especially when Balwant Singh’s swerving shot from the left was fisted out by Mahindra goalkeeper Subhodeep Mukherjee into the path of Ezeh, who hammered it over the bar in the 40th minute.
Mahindra then extended their lead soon after when Shivalkar managed to chip the ball over rival custodian Karanjit Singh.
The visitors finally pulled one back in the third minute after resumption when Ezeh, left unmarked inside the box, headed in a corner kick from the right.
Recollecting his time with the jeepmen, coach David Booth said, “The journey had its ups and downs. I gave up two jobs to be with Mahindra and never thought it would end like this.”
“The last five to six weeks have been difficult. We allowed the players (after they had been told of the decision to shut down the club) to secure their future by negotiating with other clubs,” the Englishman added.
Meanwhile, in a do-or-die encounter Mumbai FC take on injury hit Mohun Bagan in the last round tie of the I-league to be played at the Cooperage here on Friday.
A win or a loss won’t make much of a difference to the Kolkata side as they will still end fifth but for Mumbai FC a victory is critical to avoid relegation.