Raia, Feb 3 (IANS): Churchill Brothers missed the chance to go top, while Sporting Club Bengaluru lifted themselves off the bottom of the I-League 2024-25 table after the two sides played a 1-1 draw at the Raia Ground on Monday.
After Wayde Lekay’s ninth goal of the season had given Churchill Brothers the lead in the 61st minute, Clarence Fernandes, making his first start in the I-League drew SC Bengaluru level in the 73rd.
As a result, Namdhari FC remained atop with 24 points from 12 games. Churchill are now a point behind at 23. It was SC Bengaluru’s first ever away point in the I-League, ending a run of six straight defeats on the road. The Golden Tigers, with nine points, are out of the bottom spot for the first time in two months. Delhi FC now occupy 12th place.
By the looks of things in the first half, one must have found it hard to believe Churchill Brothers were the ones fighting for the title and SC Bengaluru the ones trying to avoid the drop. The visitors took the game to the Red Machines and were unlucky not to find the opener as the woodwork denied them twice.
Both opportunities arose from corners. In the 23rd minute, Saiyyad Umar’s delivery was met with an off-balance header by Clarence Fernandes. The loose ball fell for Álex Sánchez, who flicked a half volley that hit the top of the crossbar.
Four minutes later, Churchill Brothers goalkeeper Sayad Kadir made a fingertip save to keep out Salam Johnson Singh’s volley. Captain Carlos Lomba took the resulting corner, finding Shafeel PP in the box, who thumped a header straight onto the crossbar. Later, when Lomba himself had a sight of goal in first half added time, he blasted a first-time half-volley inches above the frame of the goal.
Churchill’s golden opportunity to break through in the first half fell for Anil Gaonkar, who dribbled his way into the box and only had the goalkeeper to beat but was expertly tackled by Oinam Sanatomba Singh from behind just as he was about to pull the trigger.
After a lacklustre first half, Churchill head coach Dimitris Dimitriou was quick to roll in the changes. New signing Rafiq Aminu and Colombian midfielder Sebastián Gutiérrez, returning from an injury, came off the bench to add a new dynamic to the hosts’ attack.
They created the opening goal in the 61st minute as Gutierrez picked out Aminu on the overlap with an exquisite outside-of-the-boot pass. The Ghanaian showed quick feet before sliding the ball across the face of the goal. With goalkeeper Yuya Kuriyama beaten, Wayde Lekay cheekily back-heeled it into the empty net.
But the visitors were in no mood to return empty-handed. They created the equaliser just 11 minutes later with a free-kick near the touchline. As Lomba sent a knee-height delivery into the box, Clarence Fernandes, a former Churchill player, swung his left foot at it and thumped it past Kadir.
As expected, Churchill grew desperate to score the winner late on. However, they missed a decent chance, while Kuriyama denied them on two other occasions.
The Japanese tipped over a dipping shot from distance by Pape Gassama before showing quick reactions to palm away Gutiérrez’s powerful 25-yard shot that took a deflection. In the 81st minute, Gutiérrez set a glorious chance on a plate for Gassama, but the Senegalese blazed his shot over from just over 12 yards out.