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Home side Gokulam Kerala FC notched up a solitary goal victory over former champions Churchill Brothers in an I-League clash, thanks to a first-half Marcus Joseph strike at the EMS Corporation Stadium in Kozhikode on Sunday evening.
In a wonderful gesture, the Gokulam Kerala FC management had declared that the proceeds from the game would be donated to the family of former Mohun Bagan and East Bengal player Dhanarajan, who passed away under tragic circumstances last month, and the local crowd responded with an over 25,000 turnout.
Both sides went into the game suffering losses in their previous encounter. While the visitor’s coach Bernardo Tavares rang in four changes, some of them forced, like that of the injury to top striker Willis Plaza, Gokulam Kerala FC’s Spanish coach Santiago Varela brought in Afghan Haroon Amiri and Sebastian in place of Jestin Geroge and Salman, who had started the last game.
The first clear chance of the game came Gokulam Kerala FC’s way in the 18th minute to centre-back Andre Ettienne. Ugandan forward Henry Kisekka then missed the best chance in the first half-hour, catching Churchill Brothers keeper Jaffar Mondal well outside his line, but his attempt at lobbing the keeper missed by a whisker.
The hosts broke through in the 38th minute via their talisman Marcus. Amiri got the assist with a wonderful ball into the box piercing the left-side of the Churchill Brothers defence. The Trinidadian striker gamely followed through and his rasping drive beat Mondal to bulge the Churchill Brothers net. This was his fifth goal of this season’s league and it duly got him another Hero of the Match.
The visitors then suffered another blow when full-back Robert Primus had to be replaced just before the half ended through injury.
Gokulam Kerala FC seemed to have taken their foot off the pedal a little bit in the second half, allowing Churchill Brothers to make some inciteful forays, but the finish was clearly missing on the day.
Marcus in the 78th minute also had a chance to double his game tally, but his shot from the top of the box missed the target.
Coach Tavares did bring in Israil Gurung with 10 minutes left on the clock, in an effort to secure a point, but moments later, Churchill Brothers’ day was aptly summed up, when centre-back Radanfa Abu Bakr was given marching orders for a second bookable offence.
Gokulam Kerala FC now move up to fourth on the table, winning half of their eight completed games for 13 points, while Churchill Brothers will move a spot down to sixth with 10 from seven games.
