'Cashew feni versus desi country' read a banner unfurled by fans of Churchill Brothers during the second round I-League football clash versus Mahindra United at the Cooperage in Mumbai on Thursday.
It turned out to be just that, as the villagers from Varca in South Goa showed the city slickers to be mere country bumpkins as they inflicted a humiliating 5-1 defeat on the local side on their home turf.
The visitors led 4-0 at half-time.
The second victory on the trot takes the Karim Bencherifa-coached side to six points and also to the top of the table (on goal difference with Dempo) while the Mumbai team has just a solitary point from two home outings.
Man-of-the-match Mboyo Iyomi pumped in the first and the last goal (11th and 89th minutes) while Khemthang Paite (19th minute), Odafe Okolie (36th minute) and Reisangmi Vashum (added on time in the first half) added to the tally with some thunderous strikes.
Yakubu Yusif reduced the margin in the 67th minute off a looping 25-yard free-kick, rival goalkeeper Vinay Singh punching the ball into his own goal.
Churchill Brothers' rousing win today confirmed the fact that their victory over the same rivals in the recent Durand Cup final was no fluke. What was more creditable was that it was achieved with the cream of their midfield - Brazilian Fabio Vidal, Genius Zenith and Chitrasen Singh -- being absent due to injury.
With the key defenders being cleaned out in the inter-state transfers, and with N P Pradeep nursing injury, it was evident that the inexperienced Mahindra backline would be at sixes and sevens when up against quality strikers. And so it turned out today, as they found Iyomi and Okolie, both tall, strong and skilful, too hot to handle. The Nigerian duo capitalized on almost every defensive error to set up a famous victory.
Churchill Brothers' midfield and defence too rose to the occasion, the collective working up a scorching pace from the very beginning to give the 'red devils' a real taste of hell.
The failure of the Mahindra defence was compounded by the collapse of their midfield, especially in the first half, leaving the rival defence virtually untroubled expect for some sporadic half-baked raids.
In the second half, Derrick Pereira pulled back forwards Yakubu and Mohammed Rafi into scheming roles and introduced youngsters Sushil Kumar Singh and Thoi Singh upfront. But even as Mahindras created the openings as the opposition tired out, their players failed to convert them.
The former NFL champions now travel to the Punjab to take on JCT on December 4 while the wanna be champions return home to lock horns with title holders Dempo, who also have two wins in the bag, on the same day.
© 2024 Rediff.com -