A-I continue smooth flight over Churchill

With five minutes to go for the first half, A-I got the crucial break. A deep throw in by defender Jeevan Moras saw custodian Chandrakant Naik misjudge his charge. A-I’s Khentang and Churchill’s Anit Ghosh in a bid to execute their respective duties, saw the former find the right corner of the net after Ghosh managed a faint touch which backfired in clearance, leaving Sanny a spectator as the ball went past.

In thesecond half, Air-India could have made it 2-0 had substitute Shetty kept his half volley within the framework after Godfrey Pereira’s centre from the right found Khentang head down and set Shetty with a perfect half volley. However, Shetty made up for the miss when he curled his left-foot from just outside the box on the right flank past ‘keeper Naik. The move was a combined effort which involved Khentang who initiated it mid-way into the Churchill half to substitute Abbas Ali Rizvi, who gently played it forward to the space for Shetty.