Nov 08: Golden-Boot winner Odafe creates history in Durand Cup by scoring 11 goals in 4 matches
Churchill’s Odafe Onyeka Okolic created history after scoring his eleventh goal of the tournament in the 11th minute of the final to overcome depleted Mahindra United 1-0 sealing the maiden title victory for Churchill in the Osian’s 120th Durand Cup played at the Ambedkar stadium here on Wednesday.
The final got off to an electrifying start as Churchill’s Mboyo Iyomi slammed a volley into the net on to a fine cross of Noaba Singh from right flank in the 40th second of the match, but ruled offside as linesman Deepak Singh flag was raised.
Mahindra United had scored only one goal in their three previous matches, that too in a penalty kick, and their poor run continued in the final as their forwards failed to pose any threat to the Churchill defence.
Odafe and Iyomi charged down with repeated attacks in the rival citadel and their efforts reaped benefit in the 11th minute when Raju D passed on a long ball to unmarked Odafe on the top of the box, who turned and dodged past defender Dharamraj Ravan before unleashing a stunner to find the net and paved the way for his team to corner maiden glory on their third attempt.
There wasn’t a single goal bound movement from the Mahindra’s side after the end of first half. Churchill led 1-0 at the stroke of lemon-break.
On resumption, Churchill team went into the shell while Mahindra started to attack and put the pressure on the rival defence. They came closer on two-three occasions but poor finishing and lack of execution denied them any chance of victory.
Churchill instead of pressing ahead to double their lead held their fort tightly by packing it with five defenders, as their star striker Odafe also came down in the defence line.
With every passing minute in the latter half Mahindra players tried their hard to come up with an equaliser but all their efforts turned futile after the referee blew the final whistle dashing their hopes.
"I am very happy that as a captain I scored the winning goal for my team. A leader has to set an example by his performance and I did it tonight," said Odafe after winning the golden boot award and man of the final.
The winning team coach Mario Soares felt great on the victory and admitted that the opponent came hard on us in the second-half, as they were down with one goal and that’s why we were under pressure.
On the other hand Mahindra coach Derek Pereira said, "We are in the process of building a new team. We are still a young side and I am happy that we reached the final. We are still looking for a good attacking combination.”
The Churchill skipper collected the winner’s cheque of Rs 8 lakh, while his teammate Gourmangi Singh earn the Player of the Tournament Award. Salgaocar coach Savio Madeira was named the best coach of the tournament. BSF Deepak Kumar Jr was declared the best goalkeeper.
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