Football
Agencies 7y

I-League: Churchill thrash DSK Shivajians 3-0, Mumbai disappoint against Minerva

A dominant Churchill Brothers struck thrice in the second half to down DSK Shivajians 3-0 at the Tilak Stadium in Vasco on Sunday.

After a barren first half, Ansumana Kromah (64th minute), Anthony Wolfe (67th) and substitute Surabuddin Mollick (90+4) scored for the home team.

The win took Churchill to eighth in the table while DSK stay two places higher with just a point more.

Churchill needed a win desperately to come out from the bottom, but it was the visitors who hit the ground running early in the game. Churchill slowly settled down with midfielder Brandon Fernandes combining well along with strikers Anthony Wolfe and Kromah as they created scoring chances but could not beat rival keeper Subrata Pal, who pulled off couple brilliant saves in the first half.

DSK Shivajian's coach Dave Rogers brought in some fresh pair of legs and the move nearly paid off as substitute Pranjal Bhumij's shot from the left hit the cross-bar at the hour mark.

Two minutes later Churchill took the lead from a counter attack.

Brandon Fernandes, who switched flanks with Chesterpaul Lyngdoh, laid a through ball to Anthony Wolfe, who raced into the box beating his marker Milan Singh and shot home past Subrata Pal.

Ansumana Kromah who missed couple of chances earlier then doubled the lead for the hosts as he beat Subrata off a pass from Chesterpoul Lyngdoh three minutes later.

Late into injury time Surabuddin Mollick's opportunistic long ranger caught Subrata Paul off guard to make it three and give Churchill a convincing win at home. 

Mumbai dominate but fail to snatch three points

Mumbai FC dominated proceedings but could not break the deadlock, settling for a goalless draw against Minerva FC, their third in a row.

A disallowed goal for off side in the 11th minute and some excellent saves by Minerva goalkeeper Arnab Das Sharma gave Minerva a fighting point in Mumbai.

There could have been joy in the Mumbai FC camp as early as the 11th minute when Brazilian forward Anderson D Silva's snap header beat a diving Arnab Das Sharma but was it ruled offside. Afghan import Djelaluddin then blasted over from in front of goal after a loose ball from a flag kick found him in front of the goal. In the 35th minute, Thoi Singh's came close but a sharp save again from Arnab Das diving full length to his left denied the opener.

Kashyap brought in Brazilian midfielder Alex Silva at the start of the 2nd half, but he too could not produce any special magic and the though the action remained focussed in the Minerva half, the match winner remained elusive.

"I am not frustrated with the result because I had prepared the side well and we dominated for a majority of the match," mumbai coach Santosh Kashyap said after the game.

With the draw Mumbai FC continue to remain in second last place in the points table.

Kashyap admitted that it was tough position to be in and said that though three points would have been ideal, he was not unduly worried about his team getting into the relegation zone.

"The six losses have surely hurt us, but a win or a couple of draws would have been better. However, I am confident that we will not only avoid relegation but also finish creditably," he said.

Minerva coach Surinder Singh was pleased with the performance crediting his defenders and goalkeeper for the point they managed to snatch and extend their unbeaten streak to six matches.

"We defended well from set pieces today and the defence was backed well by the goalkeeper," he said.

^ Back to Top ^