Captain Odafe Onyeka Okolie broke the shackles in the 82nd minute to score the winner as I-League champions Churchill Brothers edged past Sporting Clube de Goa by a solitary goal to inch closer to the semi-finals of the 122nd ONGC Durand Cup football tournament at the Ambedkar stadium on Tuesday.
After the Group I quarter-final league match victory, Churchill need only a draw in their last league match against Assam Rifles on Thursday to book a place in the semi-finals from the three-team Group I.
Sporting, who eased past Assam Rifles 2-0 in their opening match, will hope that they will continue their winning run against Churchill on Thursday.
Playing three days after beating Mohun Bagan 2-0 in the IFA Shield final in Kolkata, Churchill never looked like a team that won the last edition of I-League though they dominated for most part of the match.
Their star striker Odafe was given little space by the Sporting back line, led by N Samananda Singh and Mathew Gonsalves, though the Nigerian occasionally broke free.
On the other hand, Sporting had a lone clear look at the Churchill goal in the entire match.
Churchill were also denied by the woodwork on one occasion which otherwise would have swelled their victory margin. In the 20th minute, Odafe sent a through ball from between two Sporting defenders but Khantang Paite's running shot missed the left post by a few yards.
Ten minutes later, Odafe's right footer from top right edge of the box flew inches over the bar. He had yet another go at the Sporting goal in the 39th minute but his free kick, after Paite was fouled, was punched away by the goalkeeper.
The second half saw more urgency from both sides to break the deadlock. Churchill had the upper hand but still lacked the finishing touches.
In the 72nd minute, Lalthlamuana took a free kick from almost the same area and this time the ball hit the crossbar after beating the Sporting goalkeeper Gerrard D'Mello.
Churchill coach Carlos Roberto Perreira blamed the hectic schedule to his boys' less-than-impressive performance.
"We are playing three days after the IFA Shield victory final. We landed in the morning of Sunday and then had a practice session yesterday. Most of the players are tired and they can't come up to their best. This (hectic schedule) is not good for the players," he said.
