The Hindu : Sport / Football : Mohun Bagan holds Churchill Brothers goalless

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, May 04, 2004

Sport

Sport - Football

Mohun Bagan holds Churchill Brothers goalless

KOLKATA, MAY 3. Three-time champion Mohun Bagan continued to languish in the relegation zone despite snatching a goalless draw against Churchill Brothers in a National Football League match at the Salt Lake Stadium here on Monday.

The draw enabled Mohun Bagan to end the day at 21 points from 21 games while Churchill took its tally to 33 from the same number of matches. With Indian Bank of Chennai sure to be pushed out of the elite league next season, the race for the second side to join the bankmen was confined to three sides of Kolkata - Mohun Bagan, Tollygunge Agragami and Mohammedan Sporting. Mohun Bagan looks better placed since it will play Indian Bank in its last engagement at Chennai. Tollygunge would be playing Vasco in its penultimate game here on Tuesday. Tollygunge has 19 points from 20 outings.

Mohun Bagan's saving grace was its tight defence. Having realised that a draw was better than losing, it packed its defence and gave little away to Churchill. On the attacking front, Mohun Bagan created chances on the breakaways and two such moves spelt danger for the visiting team. In the fifth minute an Ashim Biswas' centre from the left found the Churchill defence in disarray. Brazilian Eduardo Rebeiro rose ahead to head into what looked like an empty net but directed the ball wide off the woodwork. The second chance was created at the fag end of the first session when in a one-to-one situation with the rival goalkeeper, Chettri shot out. — Our Special Correspondent

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