Journalism of Courage
Churchill Brothers SC coach Mariano Dias had been vocal about his displeasure with afternoon kickoffs. The coach said starting a game at 3 pm under the afternoon sun wasnt the best of ideas and that the players got tired within the first 20 minutes.
Diass proclamation seemed to have rung true for Churchills opponents,the Warriors FC from Singapore who seemed listless and dazed during its 0-3 defeat.
Jaison Vales,Bikramjit Singh and striker Sunil Chhetri netted for Churchill to record their first victory in Group E of the AFC Cup. Churchills three points took them to provisional second place in the group with two games left to play.
The first half an hour was a rather staid affair with both teams content to knock the ball around. There was not a single chance for both teams in the first 30 minutes with Churchill enjoying the majority of possession.
Yaqoob Baki,the Omani referee,granted players a short drinks break on the half-hour mark and immediately after that the game sprung into life. Sunil Chhetri,who partnered Afghan striker Balal Arezou up-front,weaved past three defenders on the left-flank before sliding a pass perfectly into Arezous feet. The burly Afghan could muster only a weak shot with only the goalkeeper to beat and defender Marin Vidosevic swept the ball off the line in a last-ditch effort.
However,four minutes later,Jaison Vales,playing in wide role received the ball 20 yards from goal. The midfielder advanced towards goal and then drilled a shot towards the near post. Warriors FC keeper Hassan Sunny seemed to have missed the flight of the ball as it curled in to the near post to give the Goan side the lead.
Barely seven minutes later,Chhetris blistering run down the right ended with a perfect cut-back which the on-rushing Bikramjit Singh slammed high into an open net.
Churchill went into the break with a two-goal cushion with Warriors showing absolutely no attacking endeavour.
The second half also saw absolute domination from Churchill as Singh and Chhetri linked up well to cause all sorts of problems for the Warriors defence. Chhetri missed out on a golden opportunity to get on to the scoresheet on the hour mark as he headed wide off a perfect Arezou corner.
Arezou,who was having an underwhelming AFC Cup debut,finally showed a glimpse of his class. Seven minutes before time,Churchill skipper Dharmaraj Ravanan executed a 35-yard pass to Arezou. The Afghan took the ball,shrugged off the challenges of two defenders and then conjured a delightfully weighted slide-rule pass for Chhetri to tap into an open goal and seal an important victory.
