Dempo Sports Club registered a nervy solitary goal win over Rajasthan United in the Star Cement Indian Football League in Ludhiana, on Friday. Seigoumang Doungel scored the match-winner for the Golden Eagles.
An away match in Punjab against a Rajasthan United side playing at home and desperate for points. On paper, a difficult evening for Dempo Sports Club. On the pitch, a completely different story.
Head Coach Samir Naik shuffled his pack with Seigoumang Doungel and Amay Morajkar coming into the starting eleven in place of Kapil Hoble and Nestor Dias. The changes paid off and will be talked about.
Rajasthan came at Dempo from the first whistle. The opening minutes were intense, direct and at times uncomfortable for the Golden Eagles and it was in those early exchanges that Ashish Sibi announced himself as the man who would define this evening. His first save came early and sharp the kind that settles a goalkeeper and unsettles an opponent.
For large stretches of the first half Rajasthan controlled the game. They pressed and created but every time they got close, Dempo’s defensive wall held firm. Aubin Kouakou and Jose Moreno were exceptional commanding in the air precise in the tackle, organising those around them with the cool authority of players who thrive when the pressure is highest. Dempo defended brilliantly.
And then, as the half began to wind down something shifted. Dempo started moving. In the 35th minute Doungel already making his presence felt struck with his left foot only to be denied by the woodwork, the effort also ruled out for offside.
Later Sebastian Gutierrez refusing to give up on a ball that seemed beyond him drove deep into the penalty area and curled an effort that drifted agonisingly past the far post. Then Gutierrez picked up the ball again, delivered a cross to Marcus Joseph inside the box only for goalkeeper Bhabindra Malla to clutch it cleanly at the last moment.
Rajasthan came again after the break. Sibi saved again commanding giving nothing away. Dempo held their shape and waited. The 60th minute changed everything. Vieri Colaco found space down the flank, whipped a cross into the box and Doungel arriving with perfect timing at the far post struck it cleanly and true into the back of the net. One-nil. Dempo take the lead.
Rajasthan threw everything at Dempo in the final half hour wave after wave, desperation growing with every passing minute. In the 79th minute their best opportunity arrived a chance that looked certain to bring them level. A sea of Dempo defenders threw themselves at it and cleared. The lead survived.
Then came the moment of the match. Four minutes into stoppage time, with Rajasthan surging forward one last time, Gerard Artigas met a delivery with a powerful header the kind that goalkeepers simply cannot reach. Sibi reached it. He flung himself across his line, got fingertips to the ball and turned it away. It was the save that sealed the points.
Seven minutes of added time. Dempo did not flinch once. At the final whistle Rajasthan United 0 Dempo SC 1. And Dempo walked away with all three points.
Next Fixture: Chanmari FC vs Dempo SC, 9th May, 2026, Rajiv Gandhi Stadium, Mizoram.
