Churchill Brothers FC Goa continued their good form to thrash Tiddim Road Athletic Union (TRAU) FC 6-1 in their I-League 2022-23 match at the Tilak Maidan, here on Tuesday.
A brace from Abdoulaye Sane and a goal each from Tana, substitute Kamo Stephane Bayi and Anil Rama Gaonkar plus an own goal from Trau’s Naresh Singh helped Churchill Brothers to a massive win against a hapless TRAU, who had no clue whatsoever against the home side.
Churchill Brothers had a dream start as they took the lead in the third minute. The Spanish playmaker Tana fed the ball to Kapil Hoble on the right and he made a run into the box before cutting it back for Abdoulaye Sane to slot home.
As the game progressed, the Red Machines continued to pile up pressure on the visitors. The TRAU custodian Loitongbam Bishorjit Singh, however, made a couple of fine saves to keep his team in the game.
The visitors soon benefited from the hard work put in by Bishorjit Singh as they went on to score the equaliser in the 20th minute. Against the run of play, Salam Johnson Singh managed to sneak behind the Churchill defence, making a run into the box and then found Bikash Singh Sagolsem, who pulled out a fine finish to beat Churchill goalkeeper Albino Gomes from a narrow-angle.
At the half-hour mark, just when the visitors thought they had a foothold in the game, the hosts stunned them with two quick goals. In the 34th minute, Hoble put in another cross from the right wing, aiming for Rama Gaonkar at the edge of the six-yard box. However, as Rama Gaonkar missed the cross, it reached an unmarked Sane at the far post and the Senegalese duly regained the lead for the hosts.
Two minutes later, Tana added the third goal. The midfielder initially fed Sane on the right wing and the striker returned the ball to Tana inside the box. The Spaniard made no mistake and slotted the ball into the back of the net.
As the home dominance continued in the final minutes of the half, the Red Machines scored the fourth goal. Tana was again in the thick of things and found Rama Gaonkar, who made a diagonal run into the box and dribbled past the goalkeeper Bishorjit Singh before shooting the ball into an empty net.
Churchill Brothers did not take their foot off the gas pedal as they maintained pressure right from the start of the second half. Near the hour mark, captain Momo Cisse almost scored the fifth goal from a free kick but the Senegalese hit the crossbar from his right-footed effort.
Midway through the second half, the visitors started to have a better of the exchanges and made inroads into the Churchill Brothers’ penalty area. The Red Pythons mostly relied on crossing into the box. Through one such cross, substitute striker Nana Poku had put the ball into the back of the net, but he was adjudged offside.
The hosts soon regained control of the game and went on to score two more goals in five minutes. They were lucky enough to get an own goal in the 89th minute when Trau’s Naresh Singh scored an own goal while clearing a goal-bound shot. Thereafter, Savio went on to combine with Kamo Stephane Bayi, and the latter headed home the goal.
Churchill Brothers moved to sixth on the table with 12 points from nine games while TRAU stayed on 13 points.
