Dominant Churchill Brothers trash TRAU FC by 6-1

Ravish Narvekar

Anil Gaonkar and Abdoulaye Sane played influential roles for the Red Machines with braces.

It was a goal feast at Tilak Maidan, as Churchill Brother FC Goa hammered TRAU FC by a dominating 6-1 margin in the I-League 2022-23 match played at Vasco-Goa on Tuesday evening. The French forward Abdoulaye Sane opened the tally in the 4th minute for the host, while Bikash Singh cancelled it out for TRAU in the 20th minute. Sane completed his brace in the 33rd minute with another brilliant goal, while Tana (35’), Anil Gaonkar (45+3 & 89’) and Kamo Bayi (90+4’) scored for the Red Machines.

Churchill Brothers coach Mateus Costa made two changes to his side which played out a goalless draw with RoundGlass Punjab in the last match as Kapil Hoble and Anil Gaonkar made the first start for the Red Machines. TRAU coach Nandkumar Singh, on the other hand, chose to go with the same XI which earned his side the full points against Rajasthan United FC in the last match.

The Red Machine got off to a great start as they surged in the early minutes, thanks to Abdoulaye Sane. The Spanish forward Tana made a perfect through pass to Kapil in the box who set up Sane. The French forward quickly tapped the ball home from close to put Churchill Brothers in the 4th minute.

The host had a chance to double their lead within the next two minutes when Kapil once again dribbled past a defender to enter the box and found Sane with a cutback but this time the French forward shot over the rivals’ frame from point-blank range.

Energized by an opener in the early minutes, Churchill came with another attack in the 10th minute as Tana sent a through pass to Anil Gaonkar in the box who should have put his side in a two-goal lead but his goalbound strike hit the rival keeper Bishorjit Singh’s hand and went out for a corner.

TRAU took 16 minutes to see at the goal as their Brazilian defensive midfielder Gerson Vieira tried his luck from a distance where Churchill keeper Albino Gomes fumbled to collect his fierce strike but managed to get on to it in his second attempt.

Another opportunity went begging for the host in the 19th minute as their tricky midfielder Kingslee Fernandes chose to go for the glory from the top of the box but his powerful shot kissed rival keeper Bishorjit’s gloves before rebounding off the crossbar. the unmarked Sane tried his best to put the loose ball in the net but the TRAU keeper quickly grabbed the ball to limit the damage to his side.

TRAU punished the local side for not capitalising on their chances as the Manipur side managed to level back in the 20th minute as a brilliant through pass from Salam Singh found unmarked Bikash Singh in the commanding position. The TRAU midfielder’s strike from a close first beat Churchill keeper Albino and settled in the net making it 1-1 for the visitors.

At the other end, Churchill had a chance to take the lead in the 25th minute when Anil set up Tana with a brilliant through pass in the box but TRAU keeper Bishorjit came off his line to thwart the Spaniard in a one-on-one situation.

However, the French forward Sane once again put the Red Machines ahead in the 33rd minute as Kapil easily cut past TRAU defender Buanthanglun Samte at the right flank and sent a low cross in the box where Anil failed to connect from the close. Meanwhile, the well-positioned Sane made no mistake to put the ball in the net with his powerful left-footer to make it 2-1.

It looked like the second goal opened the gates for Chruchill strikers as Spanish forward Tana managed to add his name to the goal scorer list within the next two minutes. Churchill skipper Momo Cisse made a long clearance to Tana who covered some ground before finding Sane in the box. The French forward who had a chance to complete his hat-trick easily danced past a few opponents in the box before unselfishly setting up Tana in front of the goal. The Spaniard later made no mistake to tap the ball home from the goalmouth.

Anil who had previously missed on a couple of occasions also managed to find the net in the added minutes of the session when an inch-perfect through pass from Tana saw him left with a just rival keeper to beat. The winger later brilliantly beat custodian Bishorjit with his first touch and sent the ball in the empty net to put Churchill Brothers into the driver's seat.

Following a poor performance by his side in the first half, TRAU coach Nandkumar Singh made four changes at halftime as defender Manash Protim Gogoi, midfielders Nongthongbam Japes and Rodger Khuman along with Ghanaian Forward Nana Poku were brought-in to sharpen them in the attack.

However, the Red Machines continue to dominate in the second session as they managed to keep the ball at their feet for a longer period. Also, they came close to further extending their lead on a couple of occasions but aimless shooting restricted the goalline.

At the hour mark, Kapil who was involved in both goals for the local side came with another cross in the box to Tana but TRAU keeper Bishorjit made a brilliant save to Spaniard’s powerful volley from just inside the box.

The Visitors almost pulled one back in the 80th minute when their forward Salam sent a perfect cross to Ghanaian forward Nana whose header gave no chance to Churchill keeper Albino Gomes but the forward failed to beat the offside trap.

Churchill coach Costa also made a few substitutions bringing in Wendell Coelho, Mamit Vanlalduatsanga, Quan Gomes and Ivorian forward Kamo Bayi. The fresh legs brought in some pace in the last few minutes of the match as the Red machines added two more goals just before the full-time whistle.

First, Wendell who had replaced Kapil on the right flank made a brilliant low cross to Anil. The speedy winger smartly made a back-heel touch to the low cross in the front of the box which easily beat rival keeper Bishorjit for Churchill’s fifth goal in the 89th minute.

The substitute Kamo also added his name to the scoresheet in the added minutes of the match as another pin-point perfect cross from Wendell was excellently headed in by the Ivorian forward to make it 6-1 for Churchill Brothers.