Churchill salvage draw against JCT

JCT, after the shocking defeat to HASC in their opening fixture, looked on course to register their first win after Balwant Singh put them in lead with a 37th minute strike.

However, Churchill’s Odafe struck an equaliser 19 minutes into the second half.
The Punjab outfit looked positive from the word go and their aggressive approach paid off when Balwant headed in Amandeeep Singh’s assist from the right.

Odafe, who helped his team come from behind in their opening fixture against defending champions Dempo, did a repeat when he headed off a corner.

In the first half, JCT skipper Daljit Singh lost possession in the midfield and it nearly proved disastrous for his team, but a diving Pawan Kumar stretched full length to cover Bineesh Balan’s attempt at a goal. In his quest to find the equaliser, Churchill coach Vincent Subramaniam tried to rev up the midfield, bringing in Charan Rai in place of Chandam Chitra Singh, but the move did not yield the desired result as JCT went into the break with their lead intact.

But fortune favoured the Goans after the change of ends with Odafe scoring the much-needed goal. The Nigerian came close to giving his team its first win of the league in the 82nd minute, but his attempt went over the bar.

In an entertaining match Salgaocar edged out Chirag United 4-3.

Salgaocar goals came from Gilbert Olivera (1st), Ryuji Seoka (13th), Gilbert Olivera (49th), Anthony Barbosa (90th) with Chirag getting on the scoresheet through Josimar (45th, Denson Devadas 66th) and Elijah Obagbemiro Junior (90th).

Air India drew with Viva Kerala 1-1. CS Sabeeth opened the scoring for Viva in the 9th minutes, but Air India hit back almost immediately equalising in the 13th minute.