Goa and Bengal showed sporadic glimpses of brilliance before settling for a goalless draw in a Group A Santosh Trophy final round match at the GMC Stadium here on Thursday.
The draw takes Goa's tally to four points from two matches, while West Bengal continue to lead the table from Group A with seven points from three matches.
Goa, the stronger of the two sides on paper, never really took off as their build up play wasn't really of the highest standards and only a strong second half performance ensured that they still look one of the two favourites to qualify from Group A.
Bengal required a mistake from Goa goalkeeper Agnelo Gomes to make their first real foray into the Goan defence. An innocuous looking back header from Melvin Lobo was spilled by Agnelo in the 11th minute. The ball fell at the feet of Bengal forward Moirangthem Basanta Singh, who slammed his shot wide of the post despite the fact that the goalkeeper was way off his line and he had only the last man Peter Carvalho to beat.
The second half started with much purpose with Goa being the more adventurous of the two teams.
Colaco's free kick three minutes after the breather went straight to the keeper. Goa's keeper then came to his side's rescue saving twice from close range — first from a shot off Manvir Singh and then from a shot off Debasis Pradshan who smashed a piledriver from the right.
Bengal had their best chance in the 70th minute when Shaikhom Ronald Singh's cross from the left went just above the head of Manvir Singh.
In another match, Services got the better of Chandigarh 1-0 win in the Group A final round league match at Tilak Stadium in Vasco.
Services scored in the 8th minute through a penalty by Francis Zountlunga.
Services opened their account with three points, while Chandigarh after Thursday's defeat have three points from three matches.