JCT Mills of Phagwara recorded a comfortable 3-0 win over Churchill Brothers of Goa in the ninth ONGC Football League match played at Guru Nanak Stadium in Ludhiana on Sunday.
All the goals were scored in the first half.
The victory gave JCT Mills three points which helped them improve their tally to 11 points from nine matches while the visitors, after eight outings, remained 11th in the table with just five points.
Churchill Brothers began on a rousing note, exhibiting an attacking game, and forced the home team on the defensive.
The Goans burst down time and again during the initial minutes of the game, but failed to get the desired results.
Their forward Marcos Pereira missed scoring chances twice.
Similarly, JCT players too made some forays into the rival citadel midway through the first half but could not break the defence.
In the 26th minute, mid-fielders Harvinder Singh and Manjit Singh weaved a good move to enter the danger zone, but Manjit's shot proved to be a feeble one, which Goa custodian Reagam Alemao managed to stop easily.
In the 37th minute, JCT men stormed into the striking area, where defender Harpreet Singh took possession of the ball and rolled the ball neatly into the net to open his side's account.
Four minutes later, Julius Arabor Akpele headed a kick from Daljit Singh, much to the chagrin of the Goa's goalkeeper (2-0).
With just ten seconds to go for the breather, midfielder Sukhwinder Singh scored off a rebound (3-0) which proved fatal for the Goans.
After changing ends, players of the both the teams made some frantic moves but missed the sting. It was only towards the fag end of game that Churchill players exhibited some signs of fight back. However, by that time they short of time and lost the game.
The dejected manager of the Churchill Brothers, Alphonso Santiago said after the match that the home team played a fine game and deserved to win.
He, however attributed his team's loss to the absence of the main players such as goal keeper Mark Masunu (red card), captain Usman Hussain and Subhash Sen Roy Chowdhary (two yellow cards).
The Churchill Brothers will return to Goa to take on Fransa Club of Goa on February 25 while the JCT Mills, will clash with Tollygunge Agragami, Kolkata in Ludhiana on February 23.
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