Goal.com

With all the participating teams playing out a few of their fixtures, Goal.com looks at their performance so far...

The second tier of the I-League kicked off around a week and half ago with 26 teams being divided into three groups.

The top two teams from each group will qualify for the Final Round. The six teams who qualify from Round 1 will play in a double leg league at Karnataka and Kerala in the Final Round. The teams placed first and second in the Final Round will be promoted to the I-League 2013-2014.  Although, to gain promotion to the I-League, the teams will have to meet the club licensing criteria circulated by the All India Football Federation (AIFF).

In group A, matches are being played at Singrauli and this group is providing the football lovers with a close contest between 9 participating teams. Langsning SC is leading the charts with 13 points from their 5 games played. DSK Shivjians FC are not too far behind with only a 3-point deficit. Leaving the two bottom placed teams Samaleswari FC and Kohima Komets, each team from this group still have their dreams alive for qualifying.

The 9 teams of group B are playing out their matches at Indore. The venue has been widely criticised for its poor. Bhawanipore FC is on the top the table as they have won all 5 of their matches played so far. They are the only team to manage a 100% winning record till now, among the participating 26 teams. Jose Ramirez Barreto, the Mohun Bagan legend has been the star for the Kolkata outfit. Mohammedan Sporting are playing catch up being only 2 points behind them. Sanjoy Sen’s men are riding high on the performances of the likes of Charles and Alfred. Royal Wahingdoh is also a strong contender from this group and they have performed well so far, notching up 4 wins in their 6 matches played. \

Former Bagan player Barreto has been the star for Bhawanipore

The 8 teams of group C have a slight advantage compared with the other groups, where 9 teams are vying for glory. The matches of this group are being played in Bangalore. Southern Samity are ahead with 10 points from their 4 games played and have Mumbai Tigers for company at the top. Vasco is only three points behind and is all set to pose a threat to the top two teams for a spot in the next round.

Though the teams still have most of their fixtures remaining, the likes of Southern Samity, Langsning SC and Bhawanipore are all looking stronger than the remaining lot. We have to wait till the end of the season to know which of these teams make it to the prestigious I-League for the next season.

How do you stay up with football when on the move? With http://m.goal.com –your best source for mobile coverage of the beautiful game.