JCT hold Churchill Brothers in I-League

GURGAON - Churchill Brothers came from behind to secure a 1-1 draw with JCT in the second round of the football I-League at the Tau Devi Lal Stadium in this suburb of the national capital Tuesday.

JCT, looking to get back to winning ways, took the surprise lead in the 37th minute from Balwant Singh’s header. Last year’s runners-up Churchill equalized in the 65th minute through captain Odafe Onyeka Okolie’s header.

For Churchill, it was the second consecutive draw in the league, after being held 1-1 by Dempo, while the Phagwara-team managed a point after suffering a humiliating loss against newly promoted HAL, Bangalore in their first round match.

Churchill were keen to take full points from the match and the pair of Odafe and Chandam Chitrasen made regular inroads, but the JCT defence stood strong under relentless attack.

Churchill came close to taking the lead in the 9th minute, but Chitrasens acrobatic shot went wide and in the 20th minute, Bineesh Balan split the JCT defence but his right-footer lacked the power to get past the goalkeeper.

JCT went ahead in the 37th minute after Saran Singh found Amandeep Singh on the right. Amandeep made a quick sprint and sent a perfect cross for Balwant, who headed in to stun the Churchill defence.

Two minutes later, Churchill missed a chance to equalise as Odafe got a through pass, but failed to get past the defenders in the box.

Churchill came out with a better game plan in the second half and showed eagerness to score. They finally got the equalizer in the 65th minute, after Israel Gurungs well-directed flag-kick was headed in by Odafe from a goalmouth meele.

Churchill coach Vincent Subramaniam was disappointed with the result.

“We lost a chance to get three points from the match. I am disappointed with the result. There was lot of pressure on Odafe today. If you miss two-three chances, you can’t win the match,” said the Singaporean.

JCT coach Parminder Singh was happy after his team bagged a point from the match.

“We made a poor start in the league. But today we played well against a strong team,” he said.