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Churchill Brothers 1 (Sunil 72) Mohun Bagan 1 (Sabeeth 27)
Churchill Brothers: Sandip Nandy, Denzil Franco, Lamine Tamba, Dharamaraj Ravanan, Satish Singh; Bineesh Balan, Beto (Balal Arezou 64), Lenny Rodrigues, Jaison Vales (Asley Fernandes 46); Henri Antchouet & Sunil Chhetri.
Mohun Bagan: Shilton Paul, Nirmal Chettri, Aibor Khongjee, Eche, Biswajit Saha; Syed Rahim Nabi, Denson Devadas, Quinton Jacobs, Lalrinfela (Snehashish Chakraborty 37; Manish Maithani 78), Odafa Okolie (Manish Bhargav 30) & CS Sabeeth.
Churchill Brothers came from behind to earn a 1-1 draw with Mohun Bagan and seal their second-ever I-League title at the Tilak Maidan in Vasco, Goa on Tuesday. CS Sabeeth put Mohun Bagan in front in the first half as Churchill looked nervy but the hosts fought back and equalised in the second half through Indian captain Sunil Chhetri.
Following the draw, Churchill Brothers have 52 points from 25 matches while second-placed Pune FC have 49 from the same number of games. Even if Pune draw level with Churchill, the Goan club have the advantage because of their superior head-to-head record as they beat the Red Lizards home and away.
Churchill had last won the title in 2008-09 and their triumph ensures that the I-League title will remain in Goa for the seventh consecutive year.
The biggest team news for Churchill Brothers was the return of Beto to the starting lineup after an injury layoff. The Brazilian started with Lenny Rodrigues in midfield while Henri Antchouet partnered Sunil Chhetri upfront.
Mohun Bagan travelled to Goa without Tolgay Ozbey but Odafa was fit enough to start with young Sabeeth supporting him in attack while Nigerian central defender Eche, who missed out the 2-0 home defeat to Churchill due to suspension, also started with Namibian Quinton Jacobs operating in midfield alongside Denson Devadas.
There was a decent turnout at the Tilak Maidan but the home side looked nervy in the early stages and could have fallen behind inside the first five minutes when Syed Rahim Nabi was allowed the time and space to shoot but Sandip Nandy produced a smart save.
Both sides were committing plenty of fouls and thus there were too many stoppages and very few goal scoring opportunities. Churchill’s only real opening in the first quarter of the game was when Antchouet brought down a Beto cross and set up Sunil but the Indian captain couldn’t hit the target.
As the half progressed Churchill were starting to dominate possession but from a counter attack Mohun Bagan took a shock lead. Jacobs dispossessed Beto and sent a long ball towards Sabeeth who showed great pace to get to the ball and then got the better of Satish Singh before slotting past Nandy.
That superb solo effort brought Sabeeth his first I-League goal of this campaign after finishing as the highest Indian scorer last season.
Despite going in front, Mohun Bagan suffered a huge blow as their talisman and skipper Odafa had to come off with an injury. That should have acted as a boost for the home side but Churchill failed to test Shilton Paul for the remainder of the first half as Karim Bencherifa’s side led at the interval.
Bhowmick introduced Asley Fernandes in the second half to give Beto more freedom but the Brazilian continued to struggle after the restart also.
The onus was on Churchill Brothers to take the game to Mohun Bagan, who were virtually playing for nothing, but the visitors could and should have gone 2-0 up in the 50th minute. Following a short corner, Manish Bhargav put the ball into the box and it felt kindly for an unmarked Nabi who blasted over from three yards.
It was a massive let off for Churchill but they continued to struggle going forward as Mohun Bagan were defending well as a team from the front with Jacobs in midfield and Eche in defence being the standout performers.
Sunil and Beto had a couple of half chances but the Red Machines needed something different to comeback into the contest and thus Bhowmick replaced Beto with Afghan international Balal Arezou.
So far in his stint with Churchill, Arezou had been used in an unfamiliar wide midfield role but in this game he looked comfortable in that position as his pace and energy added life to the Goan club’s attack.
Churchill’s first big chance of the second half came after Arezou’s run set Sunil free on the left and the Indian captain produced a teasing cross into the box which Bineesh Balan headed towards goal but was cleared off the line by Biswajit Saha.
Two minutes later, Shilton had to quickly come off his line to clear away the danger just when either Antchouet or Bineesh looked set to pull the trigger after a fine pass by Arezou.
Churchill were finally enjoying a spell of dominance and it paid dividends in the 72nd minute when Sunil headed home the equaliser. Bineesh sent in a brilliant cross to the far post and the India international rose above Bhargav and nodded it into the back of the net.
Replays suggested that the last touch might have come off the Mohun Bagan player but crucially Churchill had the equaliser they were desperate for.
The pace and intensity of the game unsurprisingly died off after Churchill’s equaliser but both sides had a couple of chances to win it late on. Lenny Rodrigus had a speculative attempt on goal from 35 yards but it was cleared off the line by Aibor Khongjee while Jacobs couldn’t hit the target from a freekick that was won just outside the box.
Referee A Rowan’s final whistle was music to the ears of the Churchill Brothers players and fans as it confirmed their status as the new champions of India with goalkeeper Nandy becoming the first player to win the league with four different clubs and technical director Subhash Bhomick becoming the first coach to win the topmost prize in Indian club football with two different clubs.
Above all that, the football crazy family of Churchill could finally celebrate their second league title triumph.
