Churchill stun Mohun Bagan

Churchill Brothers caused a big surprise in the National Football League when they got the better of defending champions Mohun Bagan 2-0 in their ninth round match of the tournament, at Margao, Goa, on Sunday.

The winners, who registered only their third victory in the tournament, got both their goals in the second half through striker Igor Shkvrin, in the 62nd minute, and medio Andre Requena, at the fag end of the match.

Bagan fought back in the latter stages of the match and came near scoring thrice but goalkeeper Edward Ansah brought off excellent saves off tries from R P Singh, Rameriez Bareto and R C Prakash.

The defeat saw the Calccutta giants stay in fifth place with 15 points.

At Jallandhar, Bombay outfit Air India satged a splendid recovery to get the better of JCT Mills, Phagwara, 4-3 and take their tally to nine points.

JCT were cruising to what would have been their first victory in the 12-team league, but a sudden turnaround in the last 15 minutes dashed their hopes.

JCT looked well-placed with a 3-1 lead till the 75th minute through goals from Hardip Singh (14th and 31st minutes) and Jaswinder Singh before complacency stepped in.

Anthony Fernandes, who had put the airmen on level terms (1-1) in the 29th minute, scored again in the 75th minute to reduce the margin. He kept threatening the JCT goal and five minutes later was about to take a shot at goal when he was brought down inside the penalty area by Jaswinder. The referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot, from where Tapos Ghosh converted to restore parity (3-3).

With barely three minutes left for the final whistle, Henry Picardo scored the winner for Air India.

At Calcutta, East Bengal made sure of staying clear at the top with a 2-0 victory over Mahindra United.

The victory took their tally to 22 points while Mahindra, who suffered their third defeat, have ten points.

Mahindra were without five of their regulars but still put up a commendable display. However, a defensive lapse proved costly for them. Just before the lemon break, defender Christopher, in an attempt to clear the ball, headed into his own goal.

East Bengal increased the lead through Surkumar Singh, who beat India goalkeeper Virender Singh with a right footer.

5th National Football League
How the teams stand
Teams		P	W	D	L	F	A		Pts	GD
East Bengal		9	7	1	1	15	3		22	12
FC Kochin		8	5	3	0	16	9		18	7
Salgaocar		8	5	1	2	12	7		16	5
M Bagan		9	4	3	2	11	8		15	3
Vasco		9	3	5	1	6	6		14	0
Churchill		9	3	2	4	10	8		11	2
Mahindra		9	2	4	3	7	8		10	-1
Air-India		9	2	3	4	9	13		9	-4
ITI		9	1	4	4	3	6		7	-3
Tollygunge		8	1	4	3	2	6		7	-4
JCT		9	0	4	5	7	15		4	-8
SBT		8	0	4	4	6	15		4	-9