CALCUTTA, November 18: Churchill Brothers from Goa defeated local contender Mohammedan Sporting by a solitary second half goal (1-0) forcing the latter crash out of IFA Shield Football at Salt Lake Stadium here today.

The all important salvo was fired by Churchill striker Gurinder Pal Singh.

Churchill Brothers, however, failed to derive any benefit from this victory except salvaging some lost prestige as they were already out of contention even before this tie having lost two matches earlier. But they did a lot of good to city giant East Bengal as this result propelled East Bengal to the final of the tournament.

In the title clash tomorrow, East Bengal would now now meet FC Kochin, which had already assured their berth in the final after winning both their semis league encounters earlier.

The last round robin semi-final league match between East Bengal and FC Kochi would now be held after in the day as a mere formality and to decide who would top the semi-final league table.

At the end of this match, FC Kochi led the eague table with six points from two outings and were followed by East Bengal,who had earned four points from two matches.

Churchill brothers and Mohammedan Sporting finished with three and one point respectively after completion of all their three league matches.

Needing a win to be in contention for a slot in the final, Mohammedan Sporting started on an even note but got into trouble soon, as their most dependable skipper Arpan Dey had to leave the ground after referee showed him the red card for handling the ball outside his area in the 20th minute.

With a numerical advantage, Churchill Brothers, who did not not have any stake in this game except to regain some honour, pressed their attack. With Gurinder Pal Singh scheming well they forced a number of raids but their striker Chibuzor in the 35th minute and then Gurinder himself eight minutes later muffed up two rosy chances.

The beginning of second half saw Churchill going all out and finally forging ahead in the 40th minute. After medio Tejinder Kumar failed to cash in on a gilt edged chance, Gurinder Pal received the ball inside the box following a combined move and scored the match winner with an angular shot (1-0).

Towards the end the local outfit went all out and was unlucky not not get an equaliser as once again a powerful drive unleashed by Pramanik after dribbling past two Churchill defenders hit the post to the dismay of all Mohammedan supporters.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.