Mumbai champions Mahindra United and Churchill Brothers, Goa, were involved in a goalless draw in their opening match of the ONGC Ninth National Football League at the Cooperage in Mumbai n Friday.
In a match that never rose to the expectations of the spectators, Mahindra United came up with a few good moves but they were not enough to garner them full points.
After a cautious start, Mahindra medio S Venkatesh's shot following a free-kick was well-stopped by Churchill custodian Mark Mascarenhas.
Churchill's best move came in the 27th minute when their winger Chandom Chitrasen's try off Yasif Yakubu's back pass hit the upright and rebounded harmlessly.
Ten minutes before half-time, Mahindra winger Abhishek Yadav's header off a lob from Venkatesh went over the crossbar.
Fifteen minutes after the break, Venkatesh did well to beat a couple of Churchill defenders but his shot was too feeble to cause any danger.
Five minutes later, Yadav failed to reach medio Jatin Bisht's lob and, soon after, substitute Vijit Shetty shot wide from close range off Venkatesh's pass.
With ten minutes to go, Mahindra midfielder Debabrata Roy's lob went wasted after Yadav failed to find the mark following Venkatesh's accurate pass to Roy.
With just a minute to go for the final whistle, Yadav again missed a golden chance when he failed to find the target with his header following a free-kick. Soon after, he headed straight to Mascarenhas and the home side had rest content with a single point.
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