MARGAO: Churchill Brothers frittered away a two-goal lead and the chance to go second in the league behind winners Dempo SC, as they split points in a pulsating 2-2 draw with arch rivals East Bengal in the I-League match played at Nehru Stadium, Fatorda Sunday evening.
Churchill were at the receiving end for the first thirty minutes, but the hosts took the lead through skipper Odafe Okolie while Felix Chimajagwu doubled the advantage after the restart. However two goals inside ten minutes by Mhetab Hussain and substitute Sanju Pradhan allowed East Bengal to claw back and share the pie with the outgoing champions.
It was the visitors who dominated first up but had nothing to show for their aggression. Only if midfielder Beigngaicho Bekhokhei and striker Budiram Tudu had been sensible and applied themselves, East Bengal would have been sitting comfortable with a two-goal advantage with them. Churchill were really poor in the midfield with Ogba Kalu and Nascimento Silveira not getting any sort of rhythm.
East Bengal on the other hand, with Syed Rahim Nabi on the left and quiet interestingly Alvito Pereira on the right wing, dictated terms but Tudu wasted a golden opportunity as early in the ninth minute while on the quarter hour mark Alvito, left free by Nabi, saw his right footer crashing against the upright before Bekhokhei sliced the rebound high over the cross piece from handshaking distance. Bekhokhei, who was in the thick of things, wasted another easy opportunity in the 21st minute shooting wide a fine cross from the right flank by Harmonjot Khabra.
With East Bengal blowing away the chances, the Goans made their opponents pay for their generous indulgence in the 37th minute with winger Reishangmi Vashum cutting inside from the right side to push for Odafe Okolie on top of the box and the league’s leading scorer got away from his marker Nirmal Chettri to find the bottom corner of the nylons with an elegant left-footed drive that gave no chance to rival keeper Gurpreet Singh.
After resumption, Churchill Brothers did not waste much time to double their advantage in the 55th minute. Goalkeeper Arindam Bhatacharya blocked a Nabi header into the path of wingback Robert who quickly found Odafe with a long ball and the skipper immediately put Kalu inside the box, where a rather panicky Gurpreet showed his inexperience to bring down the Nigerian with a rather ill-timed challenge. A well placed referee Dinesh Nair had little hesitation in awarding the spot kick which was easily converted by Felix Chimakgwu.
At this stage, it appeared that Churchill were on their way to pocket full points and seal the runners-up position, but two minutes later, East Bengal rejuvenated themselves with Nabi working down the left flank finding Mhetab Hussain in a crowded box and the midfielder’s angular drive struck the inside of Arindam’s left post to slide inside
the nylons.
The goal uplifted the visitors with coach Filipe de Ridder effecting two changes bringing in Sanju Pradhan and Bhaichung Bhutia to pep up the attack. The move paid off in the 67th minute with Bhutia releasing Saikat Saha Roy inside the box on the left where Churchill defender Raju Yumnam’s reckless tackle upended the East Bengal winger only for referee Nair to point to the dreaded spot. Pradhan was given the responsibility to shoot from the spot and made no mistake with a firm drive to restore parity.
With East Bengal increasing pressure on the hosts, it was anybody’s game and the defending champions were lucky not to give away the third in the 73rd minute. Kalu got himself some room to fire a right-footer at the target but young Harpreet made a superb save and East Bengal still had time to get a stunning result but Bekhokhei again was the culprit for the third time shooting hopelessly wide from inside the box after a defensive blunder.
The draw forced Churchill to stay third on 40 points, a point behind Pune FC in the league standings. East Bengal remained ninth with 30 points.
