MARGAO
Pune FC rallied from behind to hold Churchill Brothers Sports Club 1-1 draw in the Bandodkar Gold Trophy football tournament, at Rosary ground, Navelim on Friday. All the goals were scored in the first half.
Both the teams adopted an aggressive approach but it was Churchill Brothers who surged ahead in the fourth minute when striker Aldrich Coelho sent a rasping shot off a well measured cross from Mathew Colaco to beat the Pune goalkeeper Anus Kumar hands down.
Stung by the setback, Pune FC regrouped quickly and took the fight to the rival camp and neutralized the lead in the 13th minute when a rival defender fouled a Pune FC player outside the box and the referee awarded a freekick, which was curled in the net past Churchill Brothers goalkeeper Aliston Fernandes by Buvanthankhun Samte to put his team on equal terms.
Midway in the opening session, Churchill Brothers had a chance to make it 2-1 but Mathew Colaco shot wide. Pune FC too troubled the rival defence with well orchestrated raids and came close to scoring but striker Lalawmpuia ballooned over from close range.
Pune exhibited a better performance after resumption but the match winner eluded them. They had better share of exchanges and total ball possession. The visitors had a golden chance to make it 2-1 but striker Lalawmpuia's header off a well executed freekick taken by Mohammed Yasir missed the mark narrowly. In the 58th minute, Lalawmpuia pulled the trigger outside the box and his left-footed drive was spilled by the Churchill Brothers goalkeeper Aliston Fernandes. The ball fell for Vanlalhruaitluvanha, who made a brilliant attempt but Aliston came to his side's rescue and thwarted him from scoring.
Earlier Pune FC's Murang Wungngayam was red-carded by referee Tejas Nagvenkar after he picked up a second yellow card. The red card did not deter the Pune lads as they launched a barrage of attacks. Ashique Kuruniyan, who was a thorn in the rival defence, came twice to dismantling the rival citadel but his try missed the target and another was saved by the goalkeeper.
Churchill Brothers, who were kept quiet by their opponents for the major part of the game, came close to scoring the match winner but Cyrus Nornha's snap shot was well blocked by Pune FC goalkeeper Anus Kumar. With time running out, Pune FC went all out in search of match winner and nearly struck but man of the match Ashique Kurunian's try off a pass from Sajid Hussain from close range went wide. Pune were unlucky not to get the winner as Rajat Kumar's header hit the crossbar off Omega Vamlalhruaitluvana's freekick. Earlier, Churchill Brothers' Sanwil D'Costa was ejected by the referee for a second bookable offence.
