MAPUSA: Churchill Brothers Sports Club came from a goal down to beat Corps of Signals by a 3-1 margin in the Goa Professional League match, organised by Goa Football Association, played at Duler Stadium, here on Saturday.

However, this win could not help them to move up from the bottom of the table as they have just 10 points from the same number of matches, while Signals remained at 8th position with 18 points from 18 matches. 

Churchill coach Alfred Fernandes had included Trinidadian international Willis Plaza and Kyrgyzstani midfielder Bektur Uulu in the starting XI, while he also gave Nicholas Fernandes and Yendrenbam Metei a start. 

Whereas, Corps who had lost to Guardian Angel SC in the last match, also made few changes in the playing XI as their manager Major VS Kamble gave the first start to striker Rudresh Mandrekar, while Paul Victor made the comeback for the Army men.

Star-studded Churchill started the match on an attacking note and came close to scoring in the 3rd minute when Sevlon Cardozo went for glory from a distance but his goal-bound shot was nicely collected by Signals custodian Binu Purushothama.

A few minutes later, Churchill left-back Metei tried to find Plaza in the box but Signals defender Kuldeep Singh cleared it on time for a corner. In the next minutes, Metei found Plaza in the box who chested it down and unleashed a powerful strike from 6 yards only to see it blocked by Signals keeper Binu.

Another chance went begging for Churchill in the 32nd minute when Nicholas made a fine cross in the box but Plaza failed to connect his header from close.

Just a few seconds before the half-time whistle, Signals keeper came with an acrobatic effort to push Nicholas’ long-distance strike for a corner.

Churchill coach Alfred brought in Pankaj Sona replacing Abhishek Rawat at the half-time, while he also brought in Britto PM in the early second-half to sharpen them in the attacking. 

However, it was Signals who took the lead in the 58th minute when Churchill custodian Ricardo denied U-20 striker Cyril Dias one-on-one but the keeper failed to clear the danger completely, taking advantage of the same, unmarked Vishnu placed the ball in the empty goal to make it 1-0 for the Signals.

Churchill quickly regrouped and found the equaliser in the 63rd minute when Plaza’s powerful shot from close was brilliantly blocked by keeper Binu, the ball landed at Britto’s feet whose sparkling shot from just inside the box finished in the back of the nylons to put the team on level terms.

Energized by a goal, Churchill completely controlled the match with continuous attacks and finally broke the deadlock in the 73rd minute when Plaza made superb footwork in the box to cut past two defenders and calmly placed the ball in the goal to make it 2-1 for the Red Machines.

Ten minutes later, Churchill were unlucky not to inflate their lead when Metei’s shot on goal from the distance but his strike hit the crossbar before going out for a goal-kick.

 However, in the very next minute, Pankaj Sona cemented Churchill’s victory with a superb goal from the top of the box to confirm all three points from the match.