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Persipura Jayapura 2 (Boaz 49, Pahabol 63)
Churchill Brothers: 0
Persipura Jayapura: Yoo Jae-Hoon; Yustinus Pae, Dominggus Fakdawer, Bio Paulin, Roni Beroperay; Lim Joon-Sik, Gerald Pangkali, Imanuel Wanggai (Imanuel Wanggai 88), Ian Kabes (Yohanes Pahabol 37); Boakay Eddie Foday (Lukas Mandowen 68), Boaz Solossa
Churchill Brothers: Arindam Bhatacharya; Satish Singh, Sanjay Balmuchu, Daniel Zeleny, Raju Yumnam; Saran Singh, Lenny Rodrigues, Abedlhamid Shabana (Asley Fernandes 79), Bineesh Balan (Richard Costa 67); Anthony Wolfe, Balwant Singh
I-League and Federation Cup holders Churchill Brothers started their AFC Cup 2014 campaign with a 2-0 defeat against Indonesian champions Persipura Jayapura on Tuesday. The Group E encounter was goalless at halftime but goals from Boaz Solossa and Yohanes Pahabol in the second half gave the hosts all three points
Each side had a debutant in their starting lineup as Persipura Jayapura coach Jacksen Ferreira Tiago opted for Liberian Boakay Eddie Foday in place of Lukas Mandowen while Australian defender Daniel Zeleny replaced the injured Dharmaraj Ravanan. Persipura superstar and captain Boaz started for the first time this season and was operating just behind lone striker Foday.
The only other changes in the Churchill Brothers eleven from the last domestic game was the inclusion of Arindam Bhattacharya in goal with Lalit Thapa on the bench and Bineesh Balan replaced teenager Alesh Sawant, who didn’t make the trip to Indonesia.
The Goan outfit came into this game as underdogs but started brightly and could have taken the lead inside the first seven minutes when Balwant Singh wasted a free header from a Saran Singh corner. It would have been the perfect way for Balwant to celebrate his maiden call-up to the India senior team but the in-form striker couldn’t hit the target.
Minutes later Anthony Wolfe went close and the visitors continued to look dangerous in the first quarter of the game. Midway through the first period, the hosts finally created an opening with Yustinus Pae failing to test Arindam from close range.
Churchill Brothers were competing well in midfield and limited the home team to very few attacks. If the poor start wasn’t enough, Persiprua also lost their highly-rated winger Ian Kabes through injury and he was replaced by Pahabol.
That substitution turned out to be a blessing in disguise though as Pahabol and Boaz combined well on a couple of occasions with Arindam having to be at his best to preserve the clean sheet. Lenny Rodrigues also tried his luck from distance but the score remained 0-0 at the break.
Churchill Brothers worked very hard in the first half and since this was their third game in a week, fatigue was always going to be a factor in the second period. They conceded just four minutes after the interval as Boaz rounded off a fine team move by scoring past Arindam with a fine finish.
The goal gave the home crowd a lift while their team started playing with more intensity. The Churchill players looked knackered and had to thank goalkeeper Arindam for keeping them in the game. The 24-year-old denied Boaz and South Korean midfielder Lim Joon-Sik with a couple of brilliant saves.
But Persipura didn’t have to wait long for their second goal as Pahabol got on the end of a Roni Beroperay pass and found the back of the net in the 63rd minute to score his first goal of this season.
The Red Machines had completely lost their way in the second half and coach Mariano Dias had only two inexperienced outfield players on the bench. He brought on Richard Costa in place of Bineesh Balan while Tiago had the luxury of introducing former Indonesia under-23 international Mandowen to replace Foday.
Pahabol went close again for Persipura while Mandowen couldn’t score despite being in a one-on-one situation with Arindam. Churchill were lucky to be only 2-0 down but they couldn’t come back into the match with Dias also replacing Egyptian Abdelhamid Shabana, who had a quiet outing, with the inexperienced Asley Fernandes.
The Indian side though kept trying till the very end with Richard Costa shooting from 30 yards while Persipura’s South Korean keeper Yoo Jae-Hoon was finally called into action when Lenny found the target from 35 yards.
The result ends Churchill’s impressive nine-game unbeaten run and their next AFC Cup fixture is a home tie against Maldives outfit New Radiant on March 11.
