KANNUR, March 10: The main aim of the Kerala club, FC Kochin is to garner as many points as possible to squeeze into one of the top three spots, while for their Goan rivals, Churchill Brothers, tomorrow's Philips National Football League match will apparently be a do-or-die battle.FC Kochin are hopeful that the return of their star striker I M Vijayan, who is through with his one-match suspension, will help them pull off a victory which they badly need to avoid falling far behind the other three leading clubs in the league, Mohun Bagan, East Bengal and Salgaocar.
The sudden improvement in Indian Bank's performance in the last couple of matches has been bad news for Churchill Brothers who face the humiliating threat of relegation. The Goan club is well aware that a defeat or even a draw against FC Kochin here will all but dash their hopes of remaining in contention. FC Kochin are currenly in the fourth position with 22 points from 15 matches, while Churchill Brothers have 18 points from 15 matches. Bothteams have three more matches to play in the league.
The FC Kochin manager Babu Mather said that they would miss the services of the talented defender V B Santosh who is out with two yellow cards. ``He has been playing extremely well in this season. As our midfielders Jo Paul Ancheri, Carlton Chapman and Mohammed Saliso also have the habit of joining the strikers I M Vijayan and Raman Vijayan, Santosh's presence in the defence would have been quite useful, especially as Churchill Brothers are known for their quick counter-attacks,''said Mather. Midfielder Abu Joma, the new recruit from Ghana will be on trial in this match, Mather added.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
