Churchill teach East Bengal a lesson

Churchill teach East Bengal a lesson
AMINUL ISLAM

NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 3: Alemao Churchill and Joaquim Churchill felt a surge of pride on Friday. Why not? After all, how many times did their team make East Bengal huff and puff? But today was the day. In a gruelling contest, Churchill Brothers romped home 2-1 winners to reach the semi-finals first in the Allwyn Durand Cup at the Ambedkar Stadium here on Friday.

In the other game JCT prevailed over a hastily-stitched Mukti Joddha of Bangladesh 2-0. Rampal and Jagjit Randhawa were scorers.

It was a tussle for supremacy as they represneted the two most popular soccer joints of the country Calcutta and Goa.

So, when Alemao descended on the field from the VIP dias after the final whistle to congratulate his `gallant warriors' it conveyed the message loud and clear: Goa is emerging as a powerhouse of Indian football!

It was an explosive match with both the teams producing an entertaining soccer for a goodly afternoon crowd. Although Churchill shot into lead in the 22nd minute through Jose Colaco, who had an impressive outing, it was East Bengal who first showed the urgency to score soon after the kick-off.

Chandan Das, who reduced the margin for East Bengal in the 53rd minute with a powerful shot off a free-kick, set up a scroring chance for Siba Mamuni as early as in the fifth minute. But East Bengal's new Ghanaian recruit ballooned it over, much to the disappointment of coach Syed Nayeemuddin.

Later, Siba limped off the ground after sustaing an injury to throw the team in total disarray. Shortly after the injured Ghaniain pulled out, hard-working stopper back Deepak Mondal too joined his teammate on the sidelines following a forehead injury in the 25th minute. And he never returned.

Understandably, Mondal's absence left a gaping hole in the defence. Jackson Agaypong looked totally rattled as he was constantly troubled by the maruading Churchill attackers, especially Stephen Abarowei.

Nayeem had no other option but to promote medio Suley Musah deep into defence to keep the lanky Churchill striker under check. But the move didn't pay off as Churchill began to launch sporadic raids to earn a free-kick on top of the box. Osumani Hossein's powerpacked volley consolidated their lead in the 30th minute. The introduction of veteran playmaker Tushar Rakshit in the 60th minute instilled confidence into the mid-field which otherwise looked subdued after Churchill pumped in two goals in a span of eight minutes in the first session.

But Tushar's cameo role enabled East Bengal add some firepower into the atttack in the last half-hour of the match culminating into a consolation goal which Das scored. The Calcutta side, in fact, could have salvaged a draw. But on both occasions goalkeeper Edward Ansah produced some brilliant piece of work under the bar. In the 69th minute Ansah saved a possible goal by denying Jackson after the East Bengal stopper shot off a rebound from a handshaking distance. Ansah's agility did a world of good two minutes later as he flapped the ball over after Bijen Singh attempted a back volley.

Mohun Bagan are likely to field their fresh Brazilian recruit Amouri against Salgaocar in a Group A match on Saturday. In the other match, Mahindra United take on Tata Football Academy (TFA).