Hindustan Aeronautics Sports Club (HASC) kept their hopes of regaining their place in the elite National Football League alive with a 1-0 win over Goa's Fransa Football Club in a Second Division encounter of the NFL in Bangalore on Thursday.

After a barren first-half at the Bangalore Football Stadium, captain Dayanand scored the all-important goal in the 53rd minute off a Xavier Vijay Kumar pass, much to the delight of the home crowd who turned up in good number.

This was Fransa's first defeat in the final phase of the Second Division after back-to-back victories.

HASC, Fransa and SBT Thiruvananthapuram, with six points each, share the top spot on the table with two matches to go for each of them and two berths in the elite league up for grabs.

In today's match, the Bangalore challengers outplayed the visitors, with their custodian Amit Singh Ray doing a fine job under the bar, bringing off a couple of good saves.

The Shabbir Ali-coached Fransa tried hard for the equalisr but their efforts were in vain.