Churchill Brothers SC clawed their way out of the relegation zone with a solitary goal victory over Ranjdajied United FC at the Tilak Maidan, Goa, on Tuesday.

Anthony Wolfe hammered the rebound of his own penalty to punish the visitors in the second session after there appeared nothing to differentiate the two bottom-placed teams.

Wolfe’s 56th minute strike helped Churchill garner 13 points, one more than Rangdajied United and same as Mohammedan Sporting. Churchill, however, will displace Mohammedan Sporting from the 12th position due to their superior head-to-head record.

Fresh from their triumph in the Federation Cup, Churchill had two new foreign players in Costa Rican striker Cristian Lagos and Trinidad & Tobnago World Cupper Anthony Wolfe. Rangdajied on the other hand fielded all of their four strikers for the first time, while Steven Dias, Sushant Mathew and goalkeeper TP Reheneesh, all new signings, were handed debuts.

The changes did not reflect in improved performances on the field as both teams adopted a cautious approach, unwilling to take any risks and leaving the goalkeepers with little to do. Rangdajied appeared more adventurous with swift counter attacks, and whenever Brazilian striker Edmar Figueira or Kim Song Yong had the ball, rival defenders were on tenterhooks.

Rangdajied, though, did not have too many attempts on goal in the first session with Steven Dias’s half-hearted attempt and Yohei Iwasaki’s freekick missing the target narrowly.

Churchill, too, took it easy. Balwant Singh’s header early in the game was closest they got, although the attempt lacked power and direction.

Some minutes later, Lagos rattled the post with a left-footed attempt after Denzil Franco had picked up up with an almost near-perfect cross.

Churchill drew first blood early in the second session when Lagos won a penalty. In the 51st minute, a cross from the right saw Lagos trap the ball neatly but goalkeeper Reheneesh’s acrobatic attempt was deemed too dangerous. The resultant penalty, taken by Wolfe, was saved by the goalkeeper but could do nothing with the rebound as Wolfe was allowed easy passage to the goal.

Rangdajied lacked punch in their attack even though coach Santosh Kashyap made a double substitution. The closest they got was from a freekick which momentarily distracted goalkeeper Lalit Thapa but did well to backtrack and parry the ball away for safety.

(Report & Picture courtesy AIFF Media)