CHURCHILL BROTHERS TWO GOOD FOR MOHUN BAGAN

pic courtesy:CB Twitter

Balwant Singh’s brilliant display helped Churchill Brothers knock out a vapid Mohun Bagan and march into the finals of the 2013-14 Federation Cup with a 2-1 win at Kochi on Thursday.

Defending i-League champions Churchill Brothers are through to the finals of Federation Cup after defeating Mohun Bagan in the first Semi Final played at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium today. The scoreline ended 2-1 in favor of the Red Machines with all three goals coming in the first half. Balwant Singh and Anthony Wolfe scored for Churchill Brothers while Odafa Okolie was the lone scorer for Mohun Bagan.

Churchill Brothers, undefeated in the competition prior to this match, got off the blocks quicker and enjoyed a better share of possession in the initial phase of the match. The first goal came in just the 4th minute as Balwant Singh glanced a superb header past the Mohun Bagan custodian Shilton Paul from a corner taken by Thangjam Singh.

After the goal, Churchill Brothers grew in confidence but Mohun Bagan also stretched for the equalizer. Churchill’s midfield was more dominant over Mohun Bagan with Abdelhamid Shabana and Lenny Rodrigues combining well. Raju Yumnam marshalled the Churchill defence while Balwant Singh kept Mohun Bagan’s defence on its toes.

Mohun Bagan were handed another setback when Balwant Singh received the ball at the edge of the box and dribbled past Aiborlang Khongjee, only for the latter to bring him down. The resultant penalty was converted by Anthony Wolfe in the 14th minute.

The match was almost in the bag for Churchill Brothers after taking the 2-0 lead, but Mohun Bagan kept seeking chances to score and equalize. In the 30th minute, Odafa Okolie managed to provide a ball to the unmarked Ram Malik who failed to latch onto the chance as defender Ravanan Dharamraj cleared the danger. A couple of minutes later, Katsumi Yusa tried to reduce the deficit with a shot at the Churchill Brothers’ goal but was denied by an alert Lalit Thapa. Mohun Bagan finally opened their account in the 33rd minute, when Odafa Okolie found himself in unmarked space, received Denson Devadas’ lob pass and rifled the ball home.

In the 54th minute Chizoba struck the woodwork from a well measured pass from Odafa Okolie as the Mariners continued in their pursuit of an equalizer. This was the only close chance Mohun Bagan were to get though as the rest of the match was dominated by Churchill Brothers. Churchill’s attack line tore apart Mohun Bagan’s defense time and again, but none of the efforts proved fruitful enough as the score line remained 2-1 till the end of the match.

The winning streak of Churchill Brothers stayed intact after 4 matches in the tournament, making them the strong contender to lift the Federation Cup.