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Churchill to clash with Mahindra in final

Principal Correspondent

— PHOTO: PTI

DIVING EFFORT: Air-India’s Santosh Koli (inside the goal post) nets his team’s second goal against Churchill Brothers.

NEW DELHI: Churchill Brothers twice rallied from a deficit in a nerve-wracking encounter against Air-India (Mumbai) before winning 3-2 through Odafe Onyeka Okolie’s 81st-minute strike to enter the final of the Osian’s 120th Durand Cup football tournament at the Ambedkar Stadium here on Monday.

Okolie revelled despite being marked. The Nigerian striker set up the first two equalisers before scoring the winner.

Churchill will meet Mahindra United (Mumbai) in the final on Wednesday in what will be a repeat of the 2002 title clash. Then, a strong Mahindra had thrashed Churchill 5-0 in a one-sided final.

Riding its luck

Fortune favoured Mahindra against Salgaocar Sports Club (Goa) as it won 4-2 in the tie-breaker after the teams remained goalless at the end of regulation time and the 30-minute extra-time.

In the tie-breaker, Salgaocar’s Rocus Lamare skied the first penalty. Later, star midfielder Shylo Malswamtlunga, taking the fourth penalty, also hit high over the crosspiece. In between, Felix Chimaokwo and Joe Rodrigues.

For Mahindra, Yakubu, Harpreet Singh, Douhou Sey Djidja Pierre and Sunil Kumar scored.

Attacking game

In the other semifinal, the first half turned out to be an exciting affair with both sides unrelenting in their attacks.

An early foul by Churchill allowed Air-India to go ahead. Dhanchadra Singh scored off a Santosh Koli free-kick in the seventh minute.

Churchill reacted with controlled aggression and within 10 minutes it got rewarded. Okolie sent a powerful curling free-kick that dropped towards the goal. Gourmangi Singh rushed up in time to tap in for the equaliser.

The hard-working Air India again took the lead when captain Bashiru M. Abass sent the ball from the back-line for Koli to head in for 2-1 in the 26th minute. Stung by the frequency with which Air-India broke into the Churchill defence, coach Mario Soraes benched the first choice goalkeeper Vinay Singh, replacing him with Lalit Thapa.

Man-of-the-match Okolie then raced up from the right and engaged four Air-India defenders — Nepoleon Singh, Uttam Singh, Dhanchandra and Koli — into a dribbling exercise in the penalty box.

Realising that he could not stretch it for too long, Okolie released the ball for Iyomi to make it 2-2.

Unlike in the first half, both Air-India and Churchill played safe rather than attacking football in the second half.

Due reward

Nine minutes from close, Okolie got his due when he scored his 10th goal in three matches here. He moved up solo beating two defenders before Air-India custodian Raju Ekka came rushing in.

The Nigerian striker cleared the ball over Ekka’s head and in two big strides he was on the ball with no one to beat. He struck the winner before taking time to look around.

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