Beto strike keeps Churchill on Dempo's tail

Churchill Brothers secured a 1-0 victory over Air India in an 18th-round I-League encounter at the Balewadi Sports Complex here on Thursday.

Captain Roberto ‘Beto’ Silva scored the winner off a rebound following a free-kick in the 30th minute and that was enough for Churchill to take maximum points.

Churchill now are third on 33 points, one point behind East Bengal and seven off leaders Dempo, but they have a game in hand that could prove crucial towards the end of the league. Air India stay ninth with 24 points from 18 matches.

Both teams missed the services of their first choice strikers -- Henry Antchouet and ND Opara for Churchill and Henry Ezeh and Takayuki Omi for Air India -- but still the Goans showed they had good reserves.

Air India, nonetheless, found some cracks in the Churchill defence, but the home team’s finishing was not up to the mark. Sandeep Sangha sent at least four wayward shots from the top of the box.

Churchill’s goal was set up when Bineesh Balan took a freekick that landed behind the wall and after rebounding off a couple of Air India players, Beto pounced and stroked it to the back of the net.

In the second half, Air India showed some urgency to find an equaliser. But then without Omi and Ezeh, they struggled in the final third.

In Kolkata, Pailan Arrows pulled off their eight draw of the season after holding defending champions Salagaocar SC 0-0 at the Salt Lake stadium.

The draw leaves Salgaocar on sixth place with 30 points from 18 encounters while Pailan stays second from bottom with 8 points from 16 outings.