This story is from April 19, 2014

Churchill, United battle to save the drop

It typically took Churchill Alemao's intervention to squash growing talk that technical director Subhash Bhowmick had fallen out of favour at Churchill Brothers, again.
Churchill, United battle to save the drop
PANAJI: It typically took Churchill Alemao's intervention to squash growing talk that technical director Subhash Bhowmick had fallen out of favour at Churchill Brothers, again.
Chief coach Mariano Dias took charge of the squad in their stunning win over East Bengal and has been monitoring training session for the last couple of days as well, giving rise to several speculations.
Until, Alemao himself stepped in.
"Mariano is handling the team at the moment. Bhowmick has high fever and cannot move out of his home," said the Churchill Brothers team boss.
Neither Churchill Brothers nor Alemao can afford any distraction at this stage of the I-League, especially since questions have been asked about their ability to survive in India's top-flight football tournament. For a defending champion, that should have been easy, but Churchill's season has been rocked by inconsistencies.
The win against East Bengal in the last clash helped Churchill breathe easy but nobody at the club is fooled into believing the job is done. In the dressing room at Fatorda, chief coach Mariano Dias turned to his players and told them to start preparing for another big game.
That clash is against United Sports Club at the Nehru Stadium in Fatorda on Saturday and comes just 36 hours after the club had possibly achieved their biggest, and most important, victory of the season.

"We must use the confidence which we have at the moment to pocket another victory against United SC. We need the three points more than anybody else," said Dias.
Churchill's 22 points from 22 matches, places them just above bottom-placed Mohammedan Sporting Club. But should Churchill fail to win any of their last two matches -- including the one against Salgaocar Football Club on the concluding day -- and Mohammedan upset Mumbai FC, the tables would have turned.
United, with 23 points and a notch above Churchill, would appear safe, but such is the fickle-nature of the standings that it can change drastically with a win, or loss. Mathematically, United SC need two points to survive and they have two matches for that.
"It's now or never for the team. We have to stand up and play for our club, our pride. Definitely the players have faced innumerable hiccups this season, but they have to show their character," said technical director Subrata Bhattacharya.
For a team that has been fighting with its back to the wall all through the season, one final push wont hurt.
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