Defending champions Dempo Sports Club launched their Durand Cup campaign with a thumping 5-0 win over Indian Air Force XI at Dr Ambedkar Stadium here today. Dempo will now meet Air India in the quarter final on November 3. Air India eliminated Delhi’s last hope with a 3-1 win over New Delhi Heroes in the pre-quarter final tie today.Delhi league champions Air Force XI, were always going to struggle against the impressive Dempo forward line bolstered further by inclusion of Chedi Edeh. And predictably they were all at sea once the onslaught commenced.Two-times NFL top scorer Ranty Martins was back to things he does best -scoring goals. Dempo skipper wasted no time in latching onto a neat through ball from Edeh and put his team in lead through a deft tap in the right corner under the stretched hands of Air Force custodian A Bandhopadhyay in the sixth minute.Edeh, who moved to Dempo from JCT this season, was in the thick of things yet again this time, feeding lanky Brazilian Roberto Silva ‘Beto’. He wrong footed one defender to unleash a ferocious left-footer which left Bandhopadhyay with little option but to see it sail into the net.After conceding two goals in the first 20 minutes, Air Force tried to regroup and make a fight out of it, but could hardly get past the opposition third. Even in the absence of Mahesh Gawli, Clifford Miranda and Samir Naik, Dempo defence was more than equipped to counter any challenge that the Air Force team could offer.Edeh made it 3-0 just before the half time with a thundering volley off a cross from Anthony Pereira.The Goans continued from where they had left off, creating opportunities and hardly missed the services of Climax Lawrence, who is carrying an injury suffered during India’s World Cup qualifier match against Lebanon. Ranty Martins went past three defenders to send a precision pass to Beto in the 70th minute; the Brazilian had no trouble in putting it past Bandhopadhyay.An unmarked Edeh completed his brace in the 75th minute, as Ranty dodged past two defenders to tap it in front of him. The Nigerian completed the demolition job with a bullet-like kick past the hapless Air Force custodian.In the second match of the day, local outfit Osian’s New Delhi Heroes offered a spirited challenge to the Mumbai-based club but ended up paying heavily for conceding far too many opportunities to Air India strikers Bashiru M Abass and Samson Singh. The duo shared three goals to guide Air India to last eight.Abass put Air India in lead with a sharp header on a corner in the 17th minute. Pep talk by Heroes coach Chima Okerie prior to the second half seemed to have had am impact as they launched a severe attack on the Air India post in the first minute of the second half. The sudden onslaught caught the Mumbai team off guard and Heroes got the equalizer through Malswama. The Delhi team dominated the next 15 minutes. But a brilliant strike against the run of play by Abass in the 64th minute turned the tide in favour of Air India. Samson Singh followed it up with an even better goal five minutes later, dodging two defenders just outside the box before unleashing a ferocious left footer into the post. New Delhi Heroes could never recover from the double blow and finally bowed out 1-3.Results•Dempo 5 (Ranty Martin 6, Roberto Silva 21, 70, Chidi Edeh 45, 75) Indian Air Force XI 0•Air India 3 (Bashiru M Abass 17, 64, Samson Singh 70) New Delhi Heroes 1 (Malswama 49) •Friday’s matches: Sporting Clube de Goa vs Army XI; Mahindra United vs BSF
