the goan I network
PANAJI
Churchill Brothers FC will face Shillong Lajong in their first home game of the 12th Hero I-League season at Tilak Maidan, Vasco on Thursday at 5pm.
Churchill will be seeking their first win, after creditably remaining unbeaten on the road so far in three games and against some top sides. Shillong, who, after a bright start are on a three-game losing spree, will have their task cut out, given their young all-Indian squad, will be playing their third consecutive away game and have been on the road for the past two weeks.
Churchill also lead the head-to-head stats 6-3 with three other games ending in draws. However, in the last two Hero I-League editions, Lajong have won two of the four games with one ending in a draw.
Churchill Bros’ Romanian coach Petre Gigiu will be a relieved man after a 10-man Churchill managed to come away with a point from the chilly conditions in Kashmir, following a goalless draw, but his major worry will also be the fact that this is the only side to have played two goalless draws in the league. His striking mainstays, Dawda Ceesay and Willis Deon Plaza have obviously not fired, but they have made up for a lack of goals through sheer grit.
That grit was in the fore against league leaders Chennai when they went behind initially, only to fight back and even go ahead briefly, before drawing even against one of the most dominant sides of the league.
“I am happy because we didn’t lose but also not happy because we could have won a minimum of two of those games. Churchill Brothers will get better step by step in every game. I am happy because we played good and we created many opportunities to score. Hope tomorrow will be revenge time for my strikers and they will score to win the game,” said Gigiu at the pre-match press conference.
Shillong, on the other hand, after an impressive opening game win on home ‘turf’ against Aizawl, have only gone downhill. Their slide began at home against a more accomplished Quess East Bengal, followed by an uninspiring loss to the Indian Arrows before finally being overwhelmed by Gokulam Kerala at Kozhikode.
They would be yearning to return home with some good news in the bag and would be looking to coach Alison Khasytiew and captain and midfielder Samuel Lalmuanpuia for inspiration and leadership. They did finally show some spark in the Gokulam game, as they finished strongly.
