The battle of the two bottom-placed outfits ended deadlocked as Pailan Arrows held Chirag United Kerala 1-1 in a seventh round encounter of the I-League at the Salt Lake Stadium here on Thursday.
Success continued to elude Pailan Arrows — the experimental youth team floated by the All India Football Federation — which played its third draw while losing the other four matches.
Sharing Arrows' plight, United Kerala also failed to haul itself out of the dregs of the league standings, playing its first draw after five consecutive defeats. The Kerala outfit had won its first match — against HASC of Bangalore — before lapsing into a sequel of losses.
United Kerala's hopes of regaining winning form were dashed when it was reduced to 10 men a couple of minutes after finding the lead. Saba Saleel finished off a concerted move on the half-hour mark giving United the lead. But the joy was short lived as defender Charles Dzisa was sent off for a tough tackle on Arrows' Malswamfela — the India under-19 captain — in the 32nd minute.
Arrows failed to cash in on its numerical superiority and squandered numerous opportunities. National team striker C.S. Sabeeth fetched the equaliser, nodding home an Abhinava Bag free-kick in the 53rd minute.
The drawn result took Arrows' tally to three points from seven encounters while United Kerala has four points from seven outings.
Other results: At Margao: Salgaocar 1 (Edeh 73) drew with Churchill Brothers 1 (Opara 49).
At Pune: Air India 0 lost to Pune FC 2 (Keita 41, Tabia 74).
