A thrilling finale

New Delhi, September 6: As Churchill Brothers and Mahindra United lock horns for the silverware on Sunday, the Durand Cup final, being last year's repeat, will certainly miss the variety. Yet, with the Mumbai team aching to extract revenge in the grudge match, and the Goans out to prove they were the deserving champs, a thrill-a-minute contest is very much on the cards.

The last time two teams met, albeit in an inconsequential quarte-rfinal league match, it was an evenly poised affair. Churchill had dominated the first half despite being a man short, but then Mahindra took their star players off the bench only after the breather.

While the match was a test of strength for the two teams, it also exposed some of their weaknesses — in particular, Churchill's. The 1-1 draw again underscored the Goan's overdependence Ogba Kalu Nnanna and Odafa Onyeka. Churchill have tasted success only when the duo have fired.

In fact, the Sporting Club de Goa’s defence marked them so well, Churchill didn't look like scoring even once in the 120 minutes of the second semi-final.

On the other hand, the Mumbai giants have had a very specific gameplan: Tire out your opponents and then go for the kill.

“Bringing in fresh legs in the second half is a part of our strategy,” said coach Derrick Pereira. "It also allows us to read our opponents'’gameplan with patience, apart from tiring them out."

And the strategy has worked wonders for them so far. In the semi-final against JCT, they were trailing by one goal. But after the subsitutions in the second half, Mahindra made a mockery of the contest, dominating the ball possession and scoring two goals to beat the Punjab team.

The only area of concern for Mahindra is that winger Mohd Rafi and striker Edeh Chidi are nursing niggles, even though Pereira hopes they will recover in time.

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