Pune: A depleted Churchill Brothers registered their first win in the AFC Cup with a 3-0 thrashing of Singapore’s Warriors FC in their third group match of the continental football tournament here on Tuesday.
Vales Jaison put Churchill ahead in the 37th minute before Bikramjit Singh doubled the lead in the 44th minute as the home side went into the lemon break 2-0 upfront.
India captain Sunil Chhetri then sealed the game with a strike in the 83rd minute.
The Goan side, who are playing their home matches at the Balewadi Sports Complex here as the Nehru Stadium at Margao was not available, had to make changes to their line-up due to injuries.
Felix De Souza got a start in goal and Naveen Kumar, Sanjay Balmuchu Amandeep Singh Bains and Vales Jaison, were included in the playing eleven.
Despite fielding some non-regular players, Churchill comfortably outplayed their opponents.
The opening half an hour was an even contest with both sides probing each other before the home side took the lead with a stunning strike from Jaison.
The left winger picked up the ball in the midfield and tried his luck from outside the box. Warriors FC goalkeeper was taken by surprise by Jaison’s effort and could not save the ball.
Churchill did not give the shell-shocked Singaporean side much time to regroup as Chhetri set it up for Bikramjit to give the home team a 2-0 lead.
Chhetri broke forward down the right wing and, with just the keeper to beat, squared the ball to Bikramjit, who had the easy task of tapping the ball home.
The India captain put his name in the scoresheet in the 83rd minute with Arezou finding Chhetri with a pass. Chhetri dribbled past the keeper and slotted the ball into an empty net.
With this win, Churchill move to third in the group with four points from three games, while Warriors stay at the bottom with no points from three games. (PTI)