I-League 2019-20: TRAU FC down Churchill Brothers 2-1

I-League 2019-20: TRAU FC down Churchill Brothers 2-1

TRAU FC beat Churchill Brothers 2-1 in a 2019-20 I-League tie at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Fatorda, Goa, on Sunday.

Gerard Williams put TRAU ahead in the 15th minute.  Radanfah Abu Bakr’s (30′) equalised before an own-goal by his own team-mate Jafar Mondal (55′) allowed TRAU to secure the three points. 

Bernardo Tavares made two changes to his first 11 as Vanlal Duatsanga and Aakash Sangwan made way for Israil Gurung and Lalkhawpuimawia. Dimitris Dimitriou made just one change for the visitors with Abhishek Das replacing Tanmoy Ghosh.

The home side did have a few forays forward early on but it was TRAU who took the lead in the 15th minute when Williams scored from the far side of the goal after receiving the ball from a short corner.

Churchill Brothers were pegged in their own half for the next few minutes until they converted from a set-piece as Abu Bakr rose highest to nod in Israil Gurung’s flag-kick past goalkeeper Mithun Samanta at the half-hour mark.

However, even after conceding the equaliser, TRAU kept pressing the hosts into defending their goal while Naocha Singh also forced a save from Mondal on one occasion.

Less than 10 minutes into the second half, the side from Manipur was gifted the lead after chaos in the Churchill box following a Meitei corner. Mondal turned the ball into his own net in an attempt to clear the danger.

Joseph Olaleye could have sealed the win in the last 10 minutes of regulation time after Meitei was once again in the thick of the action with a cut-back from the left, but the TRAU substitute side-footed his shot wide despite being afforded the space.

The win takes the visitors to the third spot with 11 points from eight games in their kitty, leaving Churchill Brothers fourth with 10 points from six matches.