Chirag hold Churchill goalless

Kolkata, Oct 12 : Local outfit Chirag United played their hearts out to hold formidable Churchill Brothers of Goa to a goalless draw in an I-League encounter at Barasat near here Sunday.

League debutants Chirag controlled the show, particularly in the second session, and their defenders gave little manouvering space to the Churchill forwards in a match played under lights at Vidyasagar stadium.

After two matches, Churchill are now at the fifth spot with four points. Chirag, despite gleaning the same number of points from three outings, are one rung down the ladder.

Marshalled by Louis Negi, the Chirag defence was watertight as Churchill upfronters could find very little space to penetrate, with their main striker Nigerian Okoli Odafa policed into submission.

Odafa failed to finish off an early chance, with United defender Hardeep Saini tackling him in time, before the locals carried out several attacks into the rival territory. Chirag medio Snehasish Chakraborty, later adjudged man of the match, played a superb game.

But none of the side could make any dent in the scoreline till the halftime.

The second half saw more action, but the city boys seemed all over their opponents.

In the 56th minute, Chirag striker Gouranga Dutta let loose a power-packed angular shot from 20 yards, but Churchill custodian Ariindam Bhattacharya brought off a fine save.

Some time later, old warhorse Basudeb Mondal set up Snehasish, who dodged past Naoba Singh, and addressed a centre toGouranga, who shot out.

Ten minutes from the final whistle, Chirage again attacked, but Gouranga headed over the crosspiece a cross from substitute medio Subhash Singh.

--IANS