I-LEAGUE ROLL OF HONOUR
YEAR WINNERS RUNNERS-UP
2007-08 Dempo Club Churchill Brothers
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2008-09 Churchill Brothers Mohun Bagan
2009-10 Dempo Club Churchill Brothers
2010-11 Salgaocar Club East Bengal
2011-12 Dempo Club East Bengal
2012-13 Churchill Bros To be decided
National Football League: Runners-up in 1996-97, 1999-2000, 2001-02.
Varca-based club secures their second I-League title as it earned a crucial point against Kolkata’s Mohun Bagan
TEAM HERALD
VASCO: Sunil Chettri’s 72nd minute equalizer against Mohun Bagan was enough for Churchill Bros to share points with Mohun Bagan in a 1-1 draw and get their hands on their second I-league title at Tilak Stadium, here, Tuesday. Bagan led 1-0 at the breather.
There were scenes of jubilation as Churchill Bros secured a hard fought point to take their overall to 52 points, which gave them the crown, even with a game to spare.
It was a game of two halves, where Bagan made Churchill to sweat, dominated the first session and surged ahead in the 27th minute through Sabeeth Sathyan but Churchill bounced back in the second and equalized through Chhettri in the 72nd minute.
Churchill fielded India captain Sunil Chhetri and Gabonese Henri Rebienot upfront while Mohun Bagan tactician Karim Bencherifa fielded captain Odafa Okolie and Sabeeth Sathyan in the striking role.
The Mariners refused to adopt a defense role, exploiting Churchill’s desperation to score early. Counter-attacks led by Quinton Jacob’s kept the home team off-balance. Bagan could have taken an early lead but Syed Nabi’s close ranger and Odafa’s powerful header were parried away by Churchill goalkeeper Sandip Nandy.
It was in the 27th minute that Bagan surged ahead after Quinton won the ball from Churchill’s Roberto Silva (Beto), who didn’t look fully fit and had a somewhat pedestrian role, and sent in a dangerous long ball to Sabeeth inside the box. The last named shot past goalkeeper Nandy before skillfully dribbling past Ravanan.
At the half hour mark, Odafa was replaced by Manish Bhargav following an injury.
Churchill began on an attacking note in the second session but found it hard to get into the rival territory.
At the other end, Nabi squandered a golden opportunity to double his team’s lead after he ballooned over from hand-shaking distance off a flag-kick from Denson Devdas.
Churchill tried hard in search of the equalizer and when Chhetri moved swiftly inside the Bagan box in the 54th minute, it looked as if he would score but the India international’s stiff grounder went inches wide with only Bagan goalkeeper Shilton Paul at his mercy.
Subsequently, Beto’s powerful half volley, in the 58th minute, which was blocked by the rival goalkeeper was the Brazillian’s last action as he made way for Balal Arezou. The Afghan International was quick to make his presence felt with quick passes which increased the tempo of the game and kept the Bagan defenders on their toes. In fact, it was Balal who changed the entire complexion of the proceedings thereafter.
Churchill’s well orchestrated raids paid dividend in the 72nd minute after Chhetri leaped over the rival defenders and headed in a well-measured floater by Denzil Franco, much to the cheers of the jam-packed supporters numbering over 6,000, which was the biggest ever.
In the final quarter, Churchill defenders Ravanan, Denzil, Satish Singh and Tamba Lamine worked tirelessly to restrain the rival attacks.
Syed Nabi was adgjudged most valuable player for his performance.
The teams sides rallied on in the final few minutes despite cramps to players from both sides hampering the game’s progress on quite a few occasions. But it well went as per the script and Churchill Brothers held on to be crowned champions of India for the second time.
Towards the end, there was a minor dispute as Bhowmick tried to send in a substitute and Churchill ordering manager Denzie to the contrary, which saw Bhowmick hitting some water bottles before retiring to the dressing room.
Chief Secretary B Vijayan gave away the glittering new trophy to Churchill Bros captain Ravanan in the presence of AIFF CEO Sunando Dar, who flew in from New Delhi with the glittering trophy this morning, Govt secretary Mathews Samuel, India coach Wim Koeverman.
