I-League: Churchill Brothers seek first win in first home game (Preview)

Churchill Brothers FC is all set to face Shillong Lajong in their first home game of the I-League football tournament at the Tilak Maidan here on Thursday.

Churchill will be seeking their first win, after creditably remaining unbeaten on the road so far in three games and against some top sides.

Shillong, who, after a bright start are on a three-game losing spree, will have their task cut out, given their young all-Indian squad, will be playing their third consecutive away game and have been on the road for the past two weeks.

Churchill also lead the head to head stats 6-3 with three other games ending in draws, however in the last two Hero I-League editions Lajong have won two of the four games with one ending in a draw.

The homeside's Romanian coach Petra Gigiu will be a relieved man after a 10-man Churchill managed to come away with a point from cold Kashmir following a goalless draw.

But his major worry will also be the fact that his is the only side to have played two goalless draws in the league. His striking mainstays, Dawda Ceesay and Willis Deon Plaza have obviously not fired and they have made up for a lack of goals through sheer grit.

That grit was in the fore against league leaders Chennai when they went behind initially only to fight back and even go ahead briefly, before returning honours even against one of the most dominant sides of the league.

Petra Gigiu, Churchill's Romanian coach was in a jovial mood on match day eve saying, "I am happy because we didn't lose but also not happy because we could have won a minimum of two of those games."

"Churchill Brothers will be better step by step in every game. I am happy because we played good and we created many opportunities to score. Hope tomorrow will be revenge time for my strikers and they will score to win the game," he added.

Shillong on the other hand, after an impressive opening game win literally on home 'turf' against Aizawl, have only gone downhill from then on.

Their slide began at home against a more accomplished Quess East Bengal, followed by an uninspiring loss to the Indian Arrows before finally being overwhelmed by Gokulam Kerala at Kozhikode.

They would be yearning to return home with some good news in the bag and would be looking to coach Alison Khasytiew and captain and midfielder Samuel Lalmuanpuia for inspiration and leadership.

They did finally show some spark in the Gokulam game, as they finished strongly and the move that involved Sheen and finally had Buam get one back, reiterated the potential the side possessed and was in ample display in their opening clash.

"We are here to win every match," said a confident Alison in the pre-game conference.

"Every game is difficult. Churchill Brothers is an experienced team, so we need to take care of our attacking line. They have home advantage but we are looking forward to play a good game," he added.

--IANS

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