Churchill go to the top
with win over ITI

Title aspirants Zee Churchill of Goa thrashed Bangalore league runners-up Indian Telephone Industries 3-1 to move to the top of the points table after the 13th round match in the Tata National Football League on Thursday.

The impressive victory, in Bangalore, saw the Goa champions swell their tally to 25 points. They are followed by Mahindra United, who were forced to stay put on 23 points following a loss to East Bengal in another match in Kolkata onThursday.

ITI, after their third successive defeat, have 19 points.

Despite being down by a goal in the 13th minute, Churchill recovered in style to trounce the Bangalore challengers.

ITI striker Mike Okoro put the home team into the lead, but prolific scorer Yusif Yokubu restored parity for the Goa team in the 23rd minute.

Two brilliant goals in the second half by skipper Roque Barretto (64th minute) and Ratan Singh (88th) slammed the door on ITI.

Yokubu, who is the highest scorer in this edition of the tournament, took his tally to nine goals.

Churchill outshone ITI in the second half with their skillful ball control. To compound their problems ITI were reduced to 10 men in the 44th minute, when Dhanesh was given marching orders by referee S Suresh of Tamil Nadu, who flashed the red card at the medio for elbowing Yakubo.

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