I-League: Exciting climax in the offing

Kozhikode, Feb 22 (UNI) An exciting finale will be in the offing when title aspirants Dempo and Churchill Brothers take on their rivals Viva Kerala and Air India here and at Goa respectively in the 18th round of the maiden ONGC I-League tomorrow.

Tied at 33 points with Churchill after 17 encounters, the defending champion Dempo had a slight edge in goal difference, which will be a deciding factor, if both the teams emerged winners, perhaps certain while considering the past performance of their rivals -- already demoted Viva and AI, which was at sixth spot.

Dempo have a 19 goal difference compared to Churchill's 15, but the later enjoyed a better overall record of ten win, as against the former's nine.

Though Churchill scored the maximum number of 37 goals in the league, as against it statemate's 31, it conceded 22 goals against Dempo's 12.

In other matches tomorrow, East Bengal (18), JCT Phagwara, which was at third spot with 30 points and Mahindra United (27) meet Sporting(18), Salgaocar (11) and Mohun Bagan (29) at Kolkata, Punjab and Mumbai respectively.

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