Churchill shocks East Bengal 3-2, Odafe nets two

Margao, Apr 11 (UNI) Former champions East Bengal received a jolt, going down to spirited Churchill Brothers 2-3 in their 13th round of the ONGC National Football League championship match played at the Nehru Stadium Fatorda here today.

Vanlal Rova (25th minute) and Odafe Okolie (53rd and 88th minutes) scored for Churchill Brothers while Edmison Pardal (40th minute) and Alvito D'Cunha (87th minute) scored for East Bengal.

With this win, Churchill increased their points tally to 19 and jumped to the fourth spot, relegating Air India with 17 points to the fifth place. East Bengal remained on same third place with 22 points from 13 outings.

In an evenly-balanced fast-paced first session, Churchill dominated the proceedings for the first 25 minutes and had a chance to surge ahead as early as in the fifth minute when Vanlal Rova, after collecting a pass from Odafe Okolie, unleashed a shot which was smartly saved by rival goalkeeper Naseem Akhtar.

In the 24th minute, Odafe's full-blooded shot touched the rival goalkeer and rebounded towards George Ekeh whose attempted hasty shot went wide.

Churchill drew first blood in the 25th minute through Vanlal Rova. When George Ekeh was trying to dodge past one of the rival defenders, the ball hit the defender and rebounded towards Vanlal Rova who was lurking inside the goal. He pounced upon the opportunity and shot in to make it 1-0.

Stung by an early debacle, East Bengal accelerated the pace of their game and made desperate attempts to equalise. In the 28th minute, Boniface Ambani's header sailed over the bar. Again in the 32nd minute, Churchill goalkeer Vinay Singh palmed Ambani's shot which rebounded towards Edmision pardal whose shot was also smartly punched away for a corner by Vinay.

East Bengal restored parity five minutes before the half time through Edmison Morgues Pardal who chested the pass from Ambani and then shot into the net to level the score 1-1.

After change over, Churchill played with renewed vigour and increased their lead in the 53rd minute through Odafe Okolie who after collecting a pass from Zenith Jenius, beat the entire rival defence and also deceived goalkeer to shoot in and make it 2-1.

Inspired by the lead, Churchill continued to attack and had another chance to consolidate their lead in the 70th minute when again Odafe, collecting a pass from Zenith, dribbled past rival defenders. But, he did have a clear look at the goal and his shot went wide.

East Bengal equalised in the 87th minute through Alvito D'Cunha whose powerpacked left-footer found the far corner of the net to make it 2-2.

However, a minute later churchill Brothers scored the winning goal through Odafe Okolie off a well-measured pass from D Raju to make it 3-2 in their favour. Churchill's Zenith Jenious was adjudged the man of the match.

UNI