Prolific scorer Odafe Okolie pumped in four goals, including a hat-trick, as Churchill Brothers deflated Mahindra United 4-2 in an exciting ONGC I-League 11th round match at the Nehru Stadium in Margao, Goa, on Monday.
Okolie found the target in the first, 62nd, 65th and 88th minutes of the match to dash the Mumbai side's hopes of extracting revenge for the 1-5 drubbing in Mumbai in the first half of the league.
Andrews Pomeye (52nd minute) and India international Steven Dias (64th) reduced the margin for Mahindra.
The victory took Churchill to 20 points from 11 matches while Mahindra remained on 14 points, also from 11 games.
Churchill, who led 1-0 at half time, went on the offensive from the start and drew first blood in the first minute, when Okolie slammed home after Mboyo Iyomi did the spadework.
A move from the centre saw Iyomi relay the ball to Okolie on the top of the box and the Nigerian recruit got the better of a rival defender before firing a powerful grounder which found the net.
The early goal propelled Churchill to probe into the rival half with more authority. The combination of Okolie and Iyomi spelt danger and Mahindra's defence crumbled in the 10th minute, with Iyomi splitting the rival defence with a forward pass to Odafe, whose shot, however, hit the base of the right post.
Mahindra nearly equalised from a counter attack but Churchill goalkeeper Vinay Singh did well to come out and block Sushil Kumar Singh's shot following a pass from Andrew Pomeye.
Mahindra effected a change in the latter part of the first half, bringing in Mohammed Rafi in place of D Ravanan and the Mumbai side slowly found their rhythm.
The visitors then threatened the rival defence with a series of raids and came close to scoring twice but Churchill goalkeeper Vinay Singh brought off good saves to deny Steven Dias and Mohammed Rafi from scoring.
The Mumbai outfit, who looked more organised in their attack after the change of ends, restored parity in the 52nd minute.
Collecting a diagonal pass from Douhou Sey Pierre on the top of the box, Andrew Pomeye beat Churchill goalkeeper Vinay Singh with a low shot to find the far left corner of the net.
The goal enlivened the match and the ball moved from end to end before Odafe Okolie again put Churchill into the lead again when he scored in the 62nd minute.
But Churchill joy was shortlived when Steven Dias equalised two minutes later by connecting a pass from Andrew Pomeye.
Okolie was not the man to lie low for even a minute and he put Churchill ahead again when he found the net in the next minute with an angular drive to complete his hat-trick.
He then added salt to Mahindra's wounds when he scored his fourth goal with a powerful shot from the top of the box off a pass by substitute Raju Durai.
