Churchill keep Sporting out of Super Five in Pro League

MAPUSA: How things have changed for Sporting Clube de Goa?
The defending champions in the Goa Pro League were expected to do even better this time around but instead, have had to settle for a place among the five teams who will, believe it or not, battle to save the drop.
Sporting Clube had a chance to redeem themselves and earn a spot in the Super Five of the Goa Pro League but a goalless draw against Churchill Brothers Sports Club left them with more questions than answers at the Duler stadium in Mapusa on Saturday.
The Super Five lineup has now been confirmed and will include unbeaten Salgaocar Football Club, Dempo Sports Club, Tuff Laxmi Prasad Sports Club, Santacruz Club of Cavelossim and Churchill Brothers, who, despite the odds and uncertainty, did their reputation no harm.
Needing a win to qualify for the Super Five, ahead of Churchill Brothers, Sporting Clube seemed better-placed to get the better of their rivals but they could never really break down a resilient Churchill side.
Understandably, Churchill coach Joseph Afusi instructed his players to get behind the ball and defend in numbers. They did that pretty comfortably and had they had better players upfront -- possibly even the suspended Odafa Okolie -- they could have pinched more than just a point.
When doing a post-mortem of the match, Sporting Clube coach could point at the flurry of chances at the death when they threw everything at their rivals in search of that elusive goal. But while, admittedly, there were chances, Sporting never really seemed equipped.
Trinidad and Tobago World Cupper Anthony Wolfe never had a decent chance, Victorino Fernandes left everyone amused when he missed an open header, and right at the end, Cajetan Fernandes had no place to hide after sending his tap from close range high over the crossbar.
Churchill had their chances to kill the match, too. When Sporting pressed more men forward, Churchill were quick on the counter but players like Pankaj Sona and Sunday Nwadialu lacked the final touch that translates a good move into a goal. Even Micky Fernandes brought the best out of Sporting goalkeeper Ravi Kumar with a good freekick and then the goalkeeper had to dive full-length to keep out an erroneous backpass.