Churchill should see profit in loss

However, no one would shed any tears over their disappearance from the Durand Cup. After all, it happened to former NFL champions Salgaocar from Goa, who too, bowed out of the tourney unceremoniously. But the case of Churchill was different. They, after a long time under their Uzbek coach Grigory, played like a cohesive unit both in defence and upfront. Their forwards — Francis Silveira and Stephen Abarowei — were difficult to be kept at bay, particularly with their midfield, manned by former TFA star Noel Wilson and Ajay Singh, fed them more regularly.

On Thursday against Bagan, however, it was the same midfield that fumbled leaving their strikers starving for passes as they were rendered horse de combat. This, to some extent, explains the Churchill’s stagnation on the field. But one must also give credit to the well thoughtout plan employed by Bagan coach Subrata Bhattacharya which was executed with precision.

Their defence was fortified with Hussain Mustafi, M Suresh, Dulal Biswas and fresh Brazilian recruit Amauri who hardly allowed any leeway for the Churchill strikers to manouevre. If those four took care of the backline, their midfield, led by Basudeb Mondol and Brazilian Jose Barreto, did an admirable job with accurate passes which their strikers made most of. On the other hand, Churchill strikers did not have any worth its name.

Even assuming everything clicked for Bagan, Churchill will rue their luck on a dreaded day when they missed the chance of making the maiden final. But then they need not be unduly disappointed. Instead, they should take heart from the way they played in the tournament and target the next one with more determination.