Looking for their second win of the season, a dominant DSK Shivajians, who led for two-thirds of the game, were denied by an Adil Khan goal in the 86th minute, cancelling out Kim Song Yong’s 21st-minute opener.
DSK Shivajians, who have now played three home games on the trot, started the game very much on the front foot, earning two corners within the first three minutes. With much of the first 15 minutes played in the visitors’ half, the first real chance of the game fell to Kim Song Yong in the 12th minute, when a floated ball played in by Juan Quero was headed just over the bar by the big North Korean striker.
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With their game characterised mostly by short, slick passes in the final third, the team finally found the back of the net when a Rohit Kumar ball found Kim, who beat his man and nestled the ball in the right bottom corner.
Churchill Brothers came up with an immediate response in the form of a Brandon Fernandez free-kick. It was, however, for nought as the defensive pairing of Shane McFaul and Sasha Kolunija were more than up to the task.
With the rest of the half being played in midfield, Lallianzuala and Mawihmingthanga came close, with Brandon Fernandez the only thorn in DSK Shivajians’ side. The home side did, however, end the 45 minutes a goal to the good.
The second half started in much the same fashion as the first, with a Rohit Kumar volley going inches wide of the goal. Churchill Brothers did, however, come into the game from the fiftieth minute onwards, restricting the Shivajians to counter attacks for a quarter of an hour. With Kim Song Yong threatening the Red Machines’ goal throughout the game, he came close on a few occasions in the final third of the game as well.
Although fairly submissive until now, the tide of the game was set to turn in Churchill Brothers’ favour with the side earning a penalty in the 76th minute as substitute Sanju Pradhan brought down the Goan sides’ Kyrgyzstani attacker Bektur in the box.
In the face of danger, DSK Shivajians’ custodian Soram Poirei was up to the mark, making a crucial save. It was, however, moments later that, off a corner, an unmarked Adil Khan found the back of the net for the visitors. This 86th-minute strike would go on to frustrate Dave Rogers, whose boys were to be denied the three points while dominating much of the game.
Rogers, while pleased with his boys’ performance, praised the resolve shown by his opposition, “The boys were fantastic, but it was one of those games. We started a little slow, and then to try and build up the momentum was tough. But then we got a goal and went into halftime leading 1-0. We haven't conceded from set plays till now, but to concede a goal from a set piece in the final minutes was disappointing. But credit to Churchill Brothers as well, they were the better team.”
“We will regroup. We are unbeaten two games now and there's still a lot of football to be played. The are a few positives as well as few lessons to be learned. But we'll keep going on and move on to the next game,” he signed off.
The DSK Shivajians next play Mohun Bagan at the Balewadi Stadium on the 24th of January.
