Nigerian Ranty Martins' hat-trick went in vain as defending champions Dempo went down to Federation Cup champions Mahindra United of Mumbai 3-4 in an ONGC Cup 10th National Football League match, at the Nehru stadium in Fatorda, Goa, on Tuesday.
For Mahindra, the goals came through Steven Dias, in the 27th minute, Yakubu, in the 49th, 69th, and Jose Ramirez Baretto, in the 61st minute.
For Dempo, Martins' hat-trick was the result of goals in the 16th, 34th and 56th minutes.
Yakubu, who scored a brace of goals , was adjudged man of the match.
With this victory, Mahindra took their tally to four points from two outings -- a win and a draw -- while Dempo have two points from three outings.
In a fast-paced encounter, the Mumbai side came up with a good move in the third minute itself when Yakubu passed the ball to Baretto, who shot wide.
Dempo shot into the lead in the 16th minute through Martins, who, after collecting a good pass from Robert Mendes Silva (Beto), nicely placed the ball into the far corner of the net, deceiving rival goalkeeper Subhashis Roy Choudhary.
Stung by the early setback, Mahindra accelerated and restored parity in the 27th minute through medio Steven Dias.
A flag-kick by Surkumar Singh hit one of the rival defenders and deflected towards Dias pounced on the opportunity and bulged the net. (1-1).
Dempo regained the lead in the 34th minute through Martins, following a well-measured pass from Beto, and at half-time were leading by 2-1.
After a cross over, Mahindra equalised in the 49th minute through Yakubu. Following a flag-kick by Mahesh Gawali, which Dempo defender Majek Bolaji failed to clear, Yakubu scored to make it 2-2.
Martins then scored his third goal in the 56th minute, when Jules Alberto Dias. from the right flank, gave a cross pass to Martins, whose header found the net 3-2.
Mahindra restored the parity again, in the 61st minute, though Barreto, who, from the top of the box unleashed a shot which kissed a rival defender and deflected into the goal 3-3.
The Mumbai champions then scored the winning goal in the 69th minute through Yakubu, who finished well following a pass from Surojit Bose 4-3.
