Salgaocar whip Pailan Arrows, enter Fed Cup semis

I-League champions Salgaocar SC stormed into the semi-finals of the Federation Cup football tournament after blanking Pailan Arrows 3-0 at the Balewadi Sports Complex, in Pune, on Thursday.

Chidi Edeh put Salgaocar ahead as early as the third minute, scoring off a half-turn, while a lucky Gilbert Oliviera scored the second in the 49th minute when Lalrozama's clearance bounced off Gilbert's knee into the net.

Balwant Singh scored the third in the 90th minute.

Salgaocar finished their league engagements with seven points while Pailan finished second in Group B with six, ahead of Mumbai FC and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.

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Salgaocar will take on Shillong Lajong FC in the first semifinal at the Salt Lake Stadium on September 25.

Pailan, who needed just a draw to qualify for the semis, were hit hard by the absence of skipper Shilton D'Silva, who had to sit out due to a knee injury.

Shilton had suffered the injury in Pailan's last match against Mumbai FC, which they won 2-1.

Pailan's Technical Director Sukhwinder Singh lauded his boys for their performance in the Federation Cup.

"Given the fact that this is a developmental team and most of my boys are playing at this stage for the first time, I'm satisfied with the performance of the boys," he said.

"We did beat Mumbai FC and HAL in the competition and that has added to our confidence."

Earlier, in another match, Mumbai FC defeated HAL 2-1.

Mumbai FC finished third in the Group with four points while HAL finished at the bottom after losing all their matches.