TEAM HERALD
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MAPUSA: Churchill Bros missed a chance to go five points clear on top of the standings as they were held to a goalless draw by Salgaocar Football Club in a 22nd round I-League football match at Duler Stadium, here, Wednesday.
This was Churchill’s second consecutive draw as they were held away 1-1 by ONGC in their previous round. The Red Machines are now three points clear ahead of East Bengal with 43 points and have a game in hand.
On the other hand, Salgaocar were keen to get three points from the tie after a hard fought solitary goal victory over Mumbai FC in their last outing. However, they had an enormous task against the league leaders as they missed key players like Rocus Lamare, Brazillian Josimar Da Silva and Milagres Gonsalves due to suspension. Randeep Singh and goalkeeper Karanjit Singh were back after serving suspension. Salgaocar coach, David Booth fielded Nigerian Gabriel Obatola in the lone striking role with John Wilkinson in the midfield.
Churchill Bros started with Indian international Sunil Chhetri and Henri Arnaud upfront with Brazillian playmaker Roberto Silva (Beto) behind the duo. Denzil Franco was ruled out due to suspension that forced defender Lamine Tamba to start despite an injury.
Salgaocar started off on an attacking note as Randeep’s powerful effort was parried away by Churchill goalkeeper Sandip Nandy in the 12th minute.
The Green Brigade maintained good ball possession but their rival’s created better chances. Churchill captain Dharmaraj Ravanan came close to giving his team the lead in the 18th minute but his header went wide off a well-measured corner by Steven Dias. Their injury concerns increased at the half hour mark as Naveen Kumar and Bikramjit Singh came in place of injured Raju Yumnam and Beto.
After resumption, Churchill started offensively and could have taken the lead in the 55th minute but Salgaocar central defender Agustin Fernandes made a timely interception to deny Henri a clear chance at goal.
Ten minutes later, Obatola squandered two chances in quick succession. First, his rasping shot was blocked by Ravanan and rebounded back to the Nigerian, whose close ranger was blocked by goalkeeper Nandy. Subsequently in the 72nd minute, Nandy frustrated Obatola yet again after saving the striker’s inside the box volley.
With 10 minutes to go for normal time, Agustin could have sealed his team’s fate but his powerful header kissed the horizontal off a free-kick by Randeep.
Sandip Nandy was adjudged Most Valuable Player for his performance under the bar.
Churchill coach, Mariano Dias was glad to collect a point. “This was a tough match. The teams played good football and I’m glad with the point,” said Dias who also added that Beto will be out for two weeks due to a hamstring injury.
David Booth was happy with his team’s performance against Churchill which took them to 23 points from 21 games. “Churchill are a very good team and deserve to be on top of the table. We missed our key players but our boys did well and we are happy with the draw,” said Booth.
