Churchill continue unbeaten run with a 1-1 draw against Gokulam

Kozhikode: Churchill Brothers continued their unbeaten run with a 1-1 draw against Gokulam Kerala in a Hero I-League fixture here on Friday.

Willis Plaza scored in the 5th minute giving the Goan team an early lead but individual brilliance from Gokulam Kerala's Arjun Jayaraj saw the hosts equalise in the 36th minute as both the teams shared the spoils at the EMS Corporation Stadium.

Arjun was rightfully declared the Hero of the Match.

Churchill Brothers took the field riding high on a convincing win against Kolkata giants Mohun Bagan in their last encounter and true to their form they started the game on an attacking mode with Plaza leading at the forefront.

Churchill drew the first blood as early as the 5th minute through a brilliant goal by striker Plaza from an equally outstanding pass from Lamgoulen Hangshing.

Plaza is now the highest goal scorer in the Hero I-League with six goals to his credit.

Soon Gokulam Kerala came close to scoring an equaliser but a good pass from Antonio German to Rajesh could not find the right direction to the back of the net.

Churchill Brothers kept pressing hard with regular attempts to score, utilising the gaps in the Gokulam Defence but could not capitalise on their lead.

Gokulam, who were visibly taken aback by the early deficit, slowly tried increasing their pace and attacks but were unable to convert the good opportunities that came their way.

Their efforts finally reaped results when Arjun received the ball inside the box from a pass from Christian Sabah and made no mistake in scoring an outstanding equaliser for the hosts in the 36th minute.

The game thereafter chan-ged quite a bit with Gokulam pressing harder, but the Churchill defence line stood strong along with their goalkeeper James Kithan to deny the hosts any chance to score and take the lead in the first half.