Chirag United failed to convert the opportunities galore as the defending champions Dempo escaped with a goalless draw in their ONGC [Get Quote] I-League football encounter at the Vidyasagar Krirangan in Barasat on Saturday.

With Dempo's Nigerian import Ranty Martins not in his usual best, Chirag United dished out a superior performance in today's match although failed to open the goal-mouth on several occasions.

Subrata Bhattacharya's boys dominated right from the beginning as the Goan outfit was surprisingly pale in comparison to their opponents.

Chirag United missed probably the best chance in 75th minute, when their foreign recruit Subair Muritala Ali failed to convert a corner as the stalemate prevailed.

Denson Devadas, who was later adjudged Man-of-the-Match, also had a couple of chances but perhaps it was not his day.

In fact, lots of credit goes to Dempo custodian Abhijit Mondal who brilliantly dived to foil a Devadas bid in 50th minute.

Devadas was again unlucky in 70th minute when his long shot missed the target.

With luck not going their way, referee Dinesh Nair turned down an appeal for penalty when Samir Naik of Dempo obstructed substitute Lalmalswama Hmar in the dying minutes.

The local boys were a notch ahead in the first 45 minutes with their defenders marking Dempo's dangerous striker duo of Ranty and Roberto Mendes Silva, whose moves were restricted inside the box as Dempo failed to get an upper hand.

Ranty had a solitary chance just before the lemon-break but the striker's effort went in vain as the shot missed target.

Daniel Bidemi and Shankar Oraon sparkled for the Chirag United but again their lack of penetration did not yield anything positive for Bhattacharya's boys.

Chirag opened up a few chances in the penalty box region but could not convert them to scoring opportunities as they had to content with one point.

Chirag United now have 22 points from 20 outings while Dempo have gathered 27 points from 19 matches.