Two late second-half goals from Scottish striker Darryl Duffy and Gurjinder Kumar carried Salgaocar to the Federation Cup semi final as they knocked out Pune FC 3-1 in a hard fought match at the Tilak Maidan in Margao Wednesday.
In a Group A game, Royal Wahingdoh held Goan giants Dempo 1-1 in an inconsequential tie here at the Nehru Stadium where Romeo Fernandez nullified a strike from Liberian Bekay Bawar to equalize for Dempo.
The Group B encounter saw Ivorian Douhou Pierre give Salgaocar the lead before Ryuji Sueoka, the Japanese medio, equalised for Pune at the hour mark.
The game once again saw some questionable decisions from officials, as Pune FC were denied a goal after the breather, while Salgaocar FC were awarded a controversial penalty which they missed.
It was Pune FC who dominated proceedings early in the match, with winger Nikhil Kadam going close on a couple of occasions in the opening 10 minutes.
Salgaocar, however, took the lead against the run of play as Pierre latched on to a Gurjinder cross and headed the ball home from close in.
After the jolt, Pune increased their attack in search for an equaliser but lacked quality finishing.
The second half saw Pune FC go all-out right from the outset.
Their persistence was finally rewarded as substitute Sueoka pulled them level.
The Japanese medio controlled an Anthony D' Souza cross in the box and fired the ball into the net off a deflection.
Meanwhile, the game turned physical with tackles flying from both sides.
In the thick of action, Salgaocar once again took the lead 20 minutes from time.
Bikash Jairu and Pierre combined on the left before setting up Duffy inside the box on the right who fired in a grounder into the net.
Minutes later, Salgaocar increased their lead as Gurjinder capitalised on a defensive lapse to score and make the score 3-1.
In the other match, Dempo's Fernandes scored a superb equaliser against Royal Wahingdoh as the winger latched onto a loose ball on the edge of the box to skip past Nigerian defender Loveday Okechukwu and then cannoning the ball into the net.
Earlier, Bawar gave the Shillong outfit the lead in the 36th minute.
Dempo will now face Salgaocar and Benguluru FC will come up against Sporting Clube de Goa in the semi-finals Jan 9.
