I-League: RoundGlass Punjab go down to Churchill Brothers

Chandigarh, May 3

RoundGlass Punjab FC (RGPFC) went down 1-2 to Churchill Brothers FC Goa in their I-League 2021-22 Championship Phase match, at Kalyani Stadium, West Bengal, today. Kurtis Guthrie scored his 13th goal of the season for the club, but couldn’t save his team from facing a defeat.

The first half had chances few and far between as both sides battled for possession of the ball. The Punjab-based outfit came close to score the opening goal in the eighth minute, but Ashish Jha failed to convert the chance.

On the follow-up, Rino Anto found Major inside the penalty area, but the Australian’s headed effort was blocked. Four minutes later, Joseba Beitia teed up Guthrie with a pinpoint cross from a free kick. However, the header brought out a sharp save from Churchill goalkeeper Shilton Paul.

The Goan side took the lead in the 25th minute through Bryce Miranda to enter the half-time with a one-goal lead.

The RGPFC’s best chance of the first half came when Major found the net after collecting a through-pass from Freddy Lallawmawma in the 37th minute, but was adjudged to have been offside.

Robin Singh and Rupert Nongrum were introduced after the interval and the former aided the RGPFC equaliser in the 55th minute. Robin’s sharp pass found Guthrie inside the box and the forward made no mistake with a perfectly-placed finish into the bottom corner. Guthrie almost added to his tally in quick succession minutes later, firing a shot from a long range that went wide and then seeing his glancing header from Beitia’s cross going just over the crossbar.

The attacks continued to come for the RGPFC, but Churchill Brothers struck a late blow in the 86th minute as substitute Gnohere Krizo scored from a close range. The match drew to a close with the score at 1-2, despite a late-attacking surge from the Punjab-based team.