East Bengal and Churchill Brothers played out a goalless draw in a Round 17 encounter of the Airtel I-League at the Saltlake Stadium on Tuesday.

In a game of very few chances, both sets of defences were on top as Churchill Brothers moved two points clear of rock-bottom Rangdajied United while East Bengal have already dropped 17 points from only 12 games.

Churchill Brothers started strongly with Anthony Wolfe going close twice in the opening ten minutes. East Bengal goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu had to be alert on both occasions to deny the Trinidad & Tobago International.

Gurpreet then did well to stop Balwant Singh’s powerful shot from 25 yards as the visitors continued to create pressure in the East Bengal half.

Midway through the first period the home team started getting into the game and their first real effort was a Lalrindika Ralte header from a Mehtab Hossain corner. Churchill Brothers custodian Lalit Thapa was kept busy from crosses but rarely threatened from open play.

Shylo Malswamtluanga tested Thapa from outside the box but East Bengal’s best chance of the half fell to Edeh Chidi who couldn’t hit the target after being played through by Malswamtluanga.

Both sides made early changes in the second half as Saran Singh replaced Alesh Sawant for Churchill Brothers while Armando Colaco introduced Harmanjot Khabra in place of Abhishek Das but it remained a tight contest with very few clear cut opportunities.

Churchill Brothers’ Costa Rican striker Cristian Lagos had the Goan club’s best chance of the second half when he had a free header from a Balwant Singh cross but the forward couldn’t hit the target.

East Bengal dominated possession in the second period and most of the play was in Churchill’s half in the final quarter of the game. But the Kolkata giants rarely got behind the back four of Churchill Brothers. And when they did create openings, either the first touch or final ball let them down.

Malswamtluanga and Chidi had a couple of half chances but neither seriously troubled Thapa, who was adjudged Man of the Match for his impressive handling and decision making while dealing with crosses.

(Report & Picture courtesy AIFF Media)