Churchill Brothers’ young brigade have always had the potential to upset the best of teams. On Thursday, they decided to take on Mahindra United, and shock ed them 5-1 in their own backyard, the Cooperage. In another match, Viva Kerala handed a crushing 3-1 defeat to Kolkata heavyweights Mohun Bagan. Even after three key medios of the Goan outfit were ruled out before the match, there was hardly any semblence of self doubt among the Goans. Just after taking a few casual shots at the goal, Churchill Brothers’ Mboyo Iyomi struck in the 11th minute after receiving a pass from Khanthang Paite. The ball bounced past Mahindra United’s goalkeeper Sandip Nandy, who failed to read the bounce while the entire Mahindra defence stood still. As it turned out, Iyomi’s strike was just the start of an onslaught seldom seen at Cooperage, especially with Mahindras at the receiving end. In the 19th minute, Paite scored the second. Bernardo Pires failed to kick the ball home off Naoba Singh’s throw-in, but Paite heard his coach yelling from the sidelines to shoot from outside the box at an acute angle, making it virtually impossible for Nandy to save. With the Mahindra defence in shambles, Churchill dangerman Okolie Odafe was not to be kept quiet for long, and he finally struck in the 36th minute with a powerful shot from a distance of 20 yards. In extra time of the first half, Vashum scored off a clearance from Mahindra defender Harpreet Singh. A slight misunderstanding among defenders gave Vashum an open goal to shoot in and put Churchill 4-0 up going into the breather. The jeepmen’s Ghanian striker saved them from further embarrassment as he got one back in the 67 minute when Yakubu scored off his free-kick. Churchill struck again in the 88th minute, Iyomi tapped the ball in off Naoba Singh’s free-kick and hammer in the final nail in the Mahindra coffin. In Kolkata, a brace by Wisdom Abbey helped Viva Kerala upset Mohun Bagan. Baba Tunde scored the first goal for the Kerala side while Bagan’s lone goal was scored by Ishfaq Ahmed.
