CALCUTTA, NOV 9: FC Kochin just about managed to salvage a draw after trailing by two goals till the 74th minute against Mohameddan Sporting at Rabindra Sarobar in the 103rd IFA Shield that resumed today.

Churchill Brothers escaped with a 1-0 victory against qualifiers Railway FC at the East Bengal ground. For Kochin, it was Raman Vijayan who turned out to be the savior with a late twin strike after Cassius Oweino and Somnath Pramanik had pumped in a goal each to give Sporting an unlikely two-goal lead.

Nigerian Chibuzur saved Churchill the blushes with a 62nd minute goal, a well placed header off a flag-kick by Kasif Jamal. Churchill, with a draw and a win, have thus made sure of a semi-final berth from Group A.

Sporting opened the scoring in the 44th minute, with Gunabir and Pramanik combining well to create the opening. With the Kochin defence at their mercy, Pramanik only had to put the ball in Oweino's path, who made it 1-0 with the help of a little deflection from Kochin defender AS Firoze. The Calcutta team made it 2-0 in the 66th minute, this time Oweino setting up Pramanik from the right.

With panic signals going off in the Kochin camp, Raman reduced the margin in the 74th minute, scoring from a melee. Ten minutes later, Shahid's brilliant run from the midfield put IM Vijayan in the clear, whose shot came off the bar. However, Raman was in place to tap it home for the equaliser.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.