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There was no joy for new-look Tampines Rovers in their bid to reach the 2016 AFC Champions League as the Singaporean side went down to a 3-1 defeat at India's Mohun Bagan on Wednesday night. Goals from forwards Jeje Lalpekhlua and Cornell Glen put the home side two goals up at the Real Salt Stadium in Kolkata before Yasir Hanapi reduced arrears for the Stags just before half-time. A late goal from Mariners captain Katsumi Yusa eventually settled the affair and sent the I-League champions through to the next qualifying round. Playing under chilly conditions, Tampines -- missing the services of key man Jermaine Pennant -- got off to the worst possible start by conceding in the first five minutes. Haitian international winger Sony Norde started off the move by getting past two men before cutting the ball back for Dhanachandra Singh. The left-back then proceeded to whip in a delightful cross for Lalpekhlua to flick past helpless Tampines goalkeeper Izwan Mahbud to give Mohun Bagan a 1-0 lead. Then Norde forced Izwan to stretch with a long-range shot and Glen spurned a gilt-edged opportunity inside the box after being found by Katsumi. Sanjoy Sen's men should have gone 2-0 up on 35 minutes when Tampines centre-back Kwon Jun brought down Glen inside the area, but the latter's resulting penalty was parried by Izwan. The former Trinidad and Tobago international was to make amends six minutes later as he bundled home from close range after Norde had taken out almost the whole Stags backline with a superb mazy run. However, Mohun Bagan's two-goal advantage lasted for only two minutes as the visitors grabbed an unlikely lifeline just before the break. Hafiz Sujad's free kick from the edge of the box picked out Yasir perfectly and the former Home United midfielder nodded firmly past Mariners' keeper Debjit Majumder to halve the deficit. At half-time, Tampines coach V. Sundramoorthy duly sacrificed Izddin Shafiq for the effervescent Jordan Web to inject more energy for the second 45 minutes. The visitors almost got off to a dream restart with Fazrul Nawaz turning home Christopher van Huizen's 35-yard freekick on 48 minutes, but the 'goal' was ruled out by the linesman's offside flag. Both sides then traded chances, with Izwan proving to be instrumental once again by pushing away a goal-bound header from Glen. Forward Sufian Anuar then entered the fray for Tampines on 73 minutes to replace a tiring Van Huizen as the Stags piled bodies forward in search of the equaliser. That nearly came seven minutes later when Yasir was sent clean through on goal, but the 26-year-old contrived to put it over the bar when it seemed easier to score. They were to pay full price for that miss seven minutes from time as Mohun Bagan substitute Prabir Das headed Norde's corner across the face of goal for Katsumi to apply the finishing touch. The home side then hung on for the hard-fought win to progress into the next round of ACL qualifying, where they will to China to face Shandong Luneng Taishan. Meanwhile, 2015 S.League runners-up Tampines will have to be contented with dropping into the second tier AFC Cup, where they slot straight into Group E along with Malaysia Cup winners Selangor FA, Philippines' champions Ceres and Bangladesh's Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Mohun Bagan: Debjit Majumder (GK), Pritam Kotal, Kingshuk Debnath, Luciano Sabrosa, Dhanachandra Singh, Pronay Halder, Souvik Chakraborty, Jeje Lalpekhlua (Abhishek Das 90'), Katsumi Yusa (C), Sony Norde, Cornell Glen (Prabir Das 79') Tampines Rovers: Izwan Mahbud (GK), Noh Rahman, Kwon Jun (Fahrudin Mustafic 67'), Afiq Yunos, Irwan Shah, Yasir Hanapi, Izzdin Shafiq (Jordan Webb 46'), Christopher van Huizen (Sufian Anuar 73'), Shahdan Sulaiman, Hafiz Sujad, Fazrul Nawaz (C)
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