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Churchill ground Air India, fly into semis
September 25, 2012
SILIGURI: Giving yet another fine display of their consistent form, Churchill Bros blanked 10-man Air India 4-0 in the final round of Group B League in 34th Federation Cup football at Kanchanjungha Stadium, here, Monday.
Churchill picked up the required points from the win and
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Churchill saw their famed forward line combining well as the Goan side mounted sustained attacks and scored at regular intervals. Nigerian Henry Autchouet, Brazilian Roberto Mendes Silva and Lebanese substitute Akram Moghrabi scored one each while midfielder Bikramjit Singh completed the tally.
Churchill’s efforts were further eased by the ejection of Air India captain Mickey Fernandes, who was sent off with a red card for stamping Roberto in the 66th minute.
Requiring a win to ensure the semi-final berth, Churchill drew first blood in the 22nd minute when Henry capped a solo effort.
Churchill doubled their lead in the 64th minute when Roberto converted a spectacular free kick.
Continuing with their disciplined showing, Churchill took the plan of their technical director, Subhas Bhowmick and scored two more goals which came off striker Akram in the 84th minute and Bikramjit Singh in the 90th minute.
Churchill tallied seven points while Air India finished with three.
The holders of maximum Federation Cup titles, Mohun Bagan scored the first win of the tournament beating Kolkata rivals Mohammedan Sporting 2-1 in the concluding Group B match which was of academic interest.
Mohun Bagan picked up two goals in four minutes through Sabeeth Sathyan and Manish Maithani after the barren first half.
Mohun Bagan, the 13-time champion, tested its bench resting the likes of Nigerian striker Okolie Odafa, India campaigner Syed Rahim Nabi and the injured Tolgay Ozbey, but put up a cohesive show much unlike its previous two outings. Striker Sabeeth Sathyan and midfielder Manish Maithani coordinated well and found the target successively in the 50th and 53rd minutes. David Sunday pulled one back for Mohammedans.
Bagan finished third with four points. Mohammedans came last with three points.
