TEAM HERALD
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MAPUSA: Churchill Brothers crushed Shillong Lajong Football Club 6-0 to go top of the table in a 14th round I-League match at Duler stadium, Mapusa, Friday. They led 2-0 at half time.
Churchill started brightly with playmaker Roberto Silva (Beto) coming close to open the scoring in the ninth minute but his powerful grounder went inches wide.
At the other end, Shillong built good attacking moves settling well on an unfamiliar Duler turf but their strikers, Friday Gbeneme and Sushil Singh were closely marked by the rival defenders.
Churchill were left frustrated after Gabonese striker Henri Antchouet’s rasping shot in the 27th minute was blocked by rival custodian Basant Singh. Their wait finally ended in the 40th minute when Steven Dias trapped a long ball from Bilal Najjarine inside the six yard box and shot past the Lajong goalkeeper.
Two minutes later, Churchill doubled the lead as Raju Yumnan found Henri who slotted past Basant Singh.
After the restart, Churchill looked much more confident as they moved with ease and tries by Ajay Singh in the 46th and Lenny Rodrigues’ in the 47th minute were blocked by Basant Singh. However, Ajay Singh bulged the net in the 53rd minute off a cross from Beto.
Ajay Singh saw another chance coming his way after Steven Dias sent a dangerous cross but his header went flying over the crossbar in the 55th minute.
Shillong’s Subhas Singh was cautioned by referee Santosh Kumar for his reckless tackle on Henri, who was hurt in the process and had to be replaced by Akram Moghrabi in the 62nd minute.
Substitute Akram soon joined the party after heading in a cross by Raju Yumnam in the 65th minute to make it 4-0.
Eight minutes later, Akram registered his brace beating the off-side trap to shoot past Basant Singh.
With the game heading into added time, Churchill had the last laugh as man-of-the-match Beto curled in a shot from the top of the box that found the top corner of the rival net.
Churchill coach Mariano Dias was satisfied with his team’s performance. “We took 20 minutes to settle down due to the slow turf that demands more from the players. Shillong attacked well in the first half hour but the opening goal which came late before the break helped to build our confidence,” said Mariano.
Shillong coach Desmond Bulpin credited their opponents for their attacking display. Bulpin said, “Churchill is a very good side and they deserved to win today. It was difficult after the squad is limited due to injuries. Shillong is better than this if we had a strong squad”.
After Dempo lost to Prayag United by a solitary goal at Kalyani stadium, Kolkata, Churchill Brothers move on to the top of the table with 28 points from 12 matches while Shillong are placed eighth with 13 points from as many matches.
