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Churchill in semifinals

Sports Reporter

FOOTBALL / Mahindra held by Mumbai FC

NEW DELHI: Defending champion Churchill Brothers managed a luck-favoured 1-0 win over Army XI to advance to the semifinals of the 121st Ossian’s Durand Cup football tournament at the Ambedkar Stadium here on Sunday.

In a quarterfinal league encounter, the lacklustre Churchill Brothers struggled to get its act together before Ogba Kalu Nnanna shot home in the 41st minute to take his side through to the last-four stage.

The match was completely drab till the 27th minute when Churchill skipper Odafa Onyeka made the first potential effort from the left but messed it up at the goalmouth.

Luck smiled on the Goan outfit minutes before the half-time with Ogba shooting from close range after getting a good ball from Nicholas Rodrigues. The Army custodian, Robikanta Singh, stopped the shot but could not manage to hold on to the ball as it rolled into the net to the delight of the Churchill players.

Coach unhappy

Despite the victory, Churchill coach and former Nigerian World Cupper Emeka Ezugo was appalled at the performance of his team. “Not a single player did things properly. It’s amazing that all the 11 players did not perform at the same time. It has happened for the first time. They did not do simple things correctly,” he said.

In the other match, Mahindra United failed to hang on to its early lead to finish with a 1-1 draw against Mumbai Football Club and hampered its chances of going into the semifinals.

Mohammad Rafi banked on Edeh Chidi’s pass to put Mahindra ahead in the fourth minute.

But, repeated attacks by Aseem K. brought dividends for the Mumbai team seconds before the lemon break. Mumbai FC earned a penalty because of Ravanand’s foul on Aseem inside the box and Felix Aboagye made no mistake to score the equaliser. After the change of ends, Mahindra made several attempts to increase its lead but failed to taste success.

Mahindra now needs a draw in its next match to get through to the semifinals while it’s all over for Mumbai FC and even a win cannot take it to the next stage.

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