Churchill Brothers, RoundGlass Punjab play drab draw in I-League

Ravish Narvekar

Churchill defender Joseph Clemente was judged the Man of the match.

Churchill Brothers FC Goa failed to complete a hat-trick of wins as RoundGlass Punjab FC managed to hold them to a goalless draw in the I-League 2022-23 match played at Tilak Maidan on Friday evening.

Punjab side who had halted Real Kashmir’s unbeaten run in the last match had only one change to their side as defender Hmingthanmawia found his name in the squad, while Churchill assistant coach Mateus Costa also made only one change to their side which earned back-to-back victories against Mohammedan Sporting Club and Sudeva Delhi FC in the last two matches as Raju Gaikwad was back in the starting XI for the Red Machines.

The host were the dominant side in the first few minutes of the match where Kingslee Fernandes, Spaniard forward Tana and French forward Abdoulaye Sane kept the rival defender on the toe. However, brilliant guarding from the Punjab defence line restricted the Red Machines from finding the net.

Punjab’s forward Daniel Lalhlimpuia and Brandon Vanlalremdika also tried to breach Churchill’s defence on a few occasions but Churchill’s last line led by skipper Momo Cisse and Raju followed the suit.

The local side had another opportunity just before the half-hour mark when they were awarded a freekick just outside the box when a Punjab defender brought down Churchill’s Tata near the box. However, Afghan International Sharif Mohammad shot over the crossbar from the set-piece.

RGP also had a similar opportunity following Churchill forward Sane’s foul on Punjab’s midfielder Adnan Secerovic where the Bosnian midfielder himself tried to find his teammate Mawia with a curling strike from the freekick but Churchill defender Raju cleared the danger on time.

Churchill assistant coach Mateus brought in speedy winger Anil Gaonkar to bring some pace to his side and the changes quickly reflected in their play. The newly signed midfielder made some pacy raids on the rivals from the right flank but could not convert them into fruitful ones.

They came close to scoring in the 65th minute when Anil won the freekick at the edge of the box where Spaniard forward Tana tried his luck from the set-piece but Punjab keeper Kiran Kumar Limbu deny his goalbound strike with a brilliant save. The winger won another freekick near the box with just ten minutes to the regular time but this time Tana could not keep his powerful strike on target.

The best chance for the host came in the 84th minute when Sane cut past a rival defender and found Tana at the top of the box who released it to unmarked Lalawmpuia Sailo in the box but the lad’s strike missed the target narrowly.

At the other end, Punjab almost scored the winner in the 87th minute when their Spanish midfielder Juan Gonzalez sent a long cross to Samuel Lalmuanpuia from the set-piece in the box. The substitute midfielder set up Daniel who went for glory from the close but Churchill defender Joseph Clemente made a goalline clearance to earn a point from the difficult encounter.