Churchill Brother’s skipper Odafe Onyeka Okolic dazzled against HAL, striking four goals, to secure a quarter final berth for his team on the opening night of the main draw of the 120th Durand Cup football tournament here at the Dr Ambedkar Stadium today.

But it was a night of disappointments for Tata Football Academy as they bowed out of the tournament going down to Central Railway 5-2 via the penalty shootout.

The Jamshedpur-based academy, that has nurtured scores of Indian footballers, wasted numerous opportunities before succumbing to an inspired Central Railway team that made it to the tournament only after a last-minute pull out by Punjab Police. Punjab Police preferred to play the Governor’s Gold Cup in Sikkim instead of the Durand Cup.

Earlier in the day, Churchill’s Nigerian marksmen Odafe and his strike partner Moboyo Iyomi tormented the HAL defenders from the word go. With a little more luck, the 4-1 score line could have been wider.

The onslaught started from the word go. In the second minute of play, Okolic unleashed a ferocious shot from just outside the box, although HAL’s Gumpe Rime managed to keep it out it was an indication of things to come. In the 13th minute, Okolic sneaked into the box, collected a sharp pass from Reisangmi Vashum and slotted it past Rime on the turn. Spurred on by the early goal, Churchill launched an all-out assault on the HAL post. It was only the good fortune of the Bangalore outfit that kept the lead to 1-0 at half time as Okolic and Iyomi conjured several scoring opportunities for the Goan side.

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