Dominant Vasco go down fighting against Churchill Brothers in Goa Pro League

Churchill Brothers U20 Alent Colaco scored the only goal of the match in the 3rd minute.

Vasco Sports Club played their heart out but was not enough to earn a point as they went down fighting to Churchill Brothers FC by a solitary goal in the Goa Professional League match played at Duler Stadium.

Churchill made a dream start to the match as it was just two minutes passed on the match clock when their midfielder Alent Colaco opened the tally for them. Vasco keeper Shambhu Mistry misjudged the low cross from the U20 lad which settled in the net to make it 1-0 for the Red Machines.

Though Churchill managed to take the lead in the early minutes, it were all Vasco in the rest of the session as they came with many attacks but could not breach Churchill’s defence. they had the best opportunity in the 38th minute when Cavin Lobo grabbed the loose ball and tried to find his teammate Ashley Fernandes near the frame but Churchill keeper Subhajit Bhattacharjee came off his line to collect the ball before the midfielder could do any damage to his side. A minute later, they once again came close to levelling the terms as their Cameroon forward Guy Tiofack was in the commanding position in the box but his strike deflected off a Churchill defender before going out for a corner.

With Vasco failing to level back from their opportunities, Churchill managed to lead by a solitary goal at halftime. Down by a goal, Vasco gaffer Micky Fernandes brought in another forward Varun Mathur to bring some sharpness to their attack.

The second session started with a swift attack from the Port Towners where Cavin sent a long pass to just-in Varun in the box who tried to find Cameroon forward Tiofack in the box with a cutback but Churchill defender Sanathoi Mietei made the timely interception to clear the danger.

Vasco once again came close to equalising in the 51st minute as they made a quick attack from the right flank where Sevlon Fernandes sent a through pass to Chirag Mardolkar in the box which was smartly cut it back to Varun but the substitute forward’s strike from close missed the top corner by a whisker.

Churchill should have doubled their lead at the hour mark when their forward Pushkar Prabhu snatched the ball from Vasco defender Kima and passed it to well-placed Alent in the box but the lad delayed to pull the trigger as Vasco defender Kima made a timely recovery to clear the danger.

Another opportunity went begging for the Port Towners in the 66th minute as a well-taken freekick by Cavin found their skipper Kuldeep Kumar who went for glory with a header only to see it push over the crossbar by Churchill keeper Subhajit.

Churchill also had another chance to inflate their lead in the 72nd minute when they were awarded a freekick just outside the box where their skipper George D’Souza tried his luck from the set-piece but Vasco custodian Shambhu made a full-stretched save to restrict the rivals from doubling their lead.

At the other end, Churchill's keeper rescued his side in the 80th minute when Vasco’s substitute forward Kartik Raina and Cameroon forward Tiofack nicely combined in the box and found unmarked Savlon whose strike was brilliantly blocked by the custodian.

Another chance came in Vasco’s way in the added minutes as Savlon sent a cross to Tiofack in the box but the Cameroon forward’s header missed the target by a hairline distance. Cavin also sent a curler in the box to skipper Kuldeep but the lad failed to put power in his header as the rival custodian made an easy collection.