Vasco: A defiant Churchill Brothers raced to their third consecutive win with another 2-0 victory over Indian Arrows here on Monday. The match seemed destined for a draw but the ‘Red Machines’-five of whose eight goals have come in the second-half, struck late twice within five minutes to ensure the win.
Dwada Cessay broke the deadlock in the 88th minute before Israil Gurung handed Churchill a deserving win after a completely dominating performance, that propelled then to seventh pushing Arrows a notch down, with both the teams tied at 10 points.
Frustration prolonged for Churchill as the young defender duo of Jitendra Singh and Anwar Ali constantly blocked out moves while Prabhuskhan Gill kept out most shots that reached him with another heroic performance on the night.
But desperate attempts at the final minute drew closer broke the Arrows citadel when Mechac Koffi’s shot from inside the box was deflected off Anwar Ali only as far as Cessay, who beat a rival defender before placing the ball in the net.
The goal really opened up the game as Arrows Began putting more men up-front to salvage a draw but substitute Gurung’s header from a Koffi free-kick in the stoppage time ended the young colt’s hope for a draw, giving Churchill their successive home win and three consecutive victories in the season.
It was however a deserved win for the ‘Red Machines’ who began on attacking note and kept probing at the Arrows goal right from the opening minutes. Koffi had then a wonderful chance to score after Denechandram Meitei’s long diagonal ball beat Ali for height and fell to him. But with an empty goal at his mercy, Koffi shot wide.
Arrows were mostly defending but came into their own in the final 10 minutes of the opening half, with three successive chances to score all coming through full-back Boris Singh. His first after a give and go with Abhijit Sarkar missed the target by a whisker while a second was when he fed Rahul Kannoly, whose shot drew a close save from James Kithan at goal.