By IANS
Margao : Churchill Brothers Sports Club settled for the second spot in the I-League after a 3-0 win over Air India at the Nehru Stadium Saturday.
Churchill Bros finished with 36 points but finished behind Dempo, who beat Viva Kerala 4-1 in Calicut and but took the first place in the league standings on a superior goal difference.
Churchill needed to score heavily in the final game against Air India to win the inaugural I-league.
Churchill managed to score just once – through Odafe Okolie – at the change of ends. However, after the breather, they seemed a completely different side and had numerous chances to submerge Air India.
Odafe Okolie – the highest scorer in the league with 22 goals – quite uncharacteristically missed three chances in four minutes.
“It was not our day,” Odafe later told IANS.
“Perhaps god wanted us to finish second. We missed so many chances. It was unbelievable,” he rued.
With over half an hour to go, Churchill Bros led 3-0, with Raju Durai and Odafe finding the net.
But, even with Air India defence completely in shambles, Churchill Bros could not take the opportunity that was up for grabs and had to finish second, a mere consolation for a team that caught everyone’s attention with their free-flowing football.
“I am still proud of this group of players. They have been wonderful,” Churchill Bros’ Moroccan coach Karim Bencherifa told reporters.