Churchill’s Noel Wilson (left) is congratulated by Yusif Yakubu at the Salt Lake Stadium on Saturday

Calcutta, Feb. 21: It’s criminal to forego a two-goal advantage at home, more so when you are fighting to save the relegation.

Tollygunge Agragami did just that to go down 2-3 against Churchill Brothers in the National Football League match at the Salt Lake Stadium on Saturday. The loss has left the city side on 10 from 12 games, while Churchill Brothers have 21 from the same number of matches.

But things started so differently for Tollygunge Agragami and it seemed that an upset was just round the corner. The home team adopted the wait-and-watch policy, trying to draw the opposition into their own half and catch them napping on fast counters.

They could have gone ahead in the fifth minute itself when a Goutam Debnath floater from the right found Sheikh Habeeb Ali in the open inside the six-yard box, but his push was well off the target.

Churchill tried to increase their men in attack, and that left holes in their defence. Moreover, with Noel Wilson playing in an unaccustomed position of a central defender along with S. Feroze, there was some serious lack of co-ordination in the backline.

In fact, the first goal in the 24th minute was the result of a misunderstanding between the two. As Wilson and Feroze faltered to clear a long ball, Habeeb put Akeem Abolanle through and the Nigerian made no mistake with the ’keeper Mark Mascarenhas at his mercy.

Akeem was a real livewire upfront and he tested the rival defence a number of times with his searing runs. His left-footer in the 29th minute after dribbling past a couple of defenders missed the mark by a whisker.

Tollygunge Agragami went 2-0 up in the 32nd minute when Mascarenhas missed the flight of a Jiten Rai free-kick and Habeeb set Akeem up to tap the ball into the open net.

Churchill Brothers coach Marcus Pacheco played the master-stroke of bringing Wilson up in the midfield in the second session and it immediately bore fruit. He started controlling the game and stretched it to the wings — a propose which was invisible in the first 45 minutes. Also, Yusif Yakubu, who scored two in quick succession, fell back to initiate the attacks that lashed the Tollygunge shores.

The Ghanaian made it 1-2 in the 53rd minute when the referee awarded a penalty to Churchill after the ball struck Sandip Das’ hands. The equaliser by Yakubu in the 61st minute was a real treat. Benjamin Ansah headed down a floater from the left and the striker lobbed it over an onrushing ’keeper on the half-turn before the ball touched the ground.

Churchill piled on the pressure and Wilson’s 30-yard piledriver in the 90th minute sealed it for the Goan side.

TEAMS

Churchill Brothers: Mark Mascrenhas, Ferno Dame, S. A. Feroze, Noel Wilson, Rajesh Meetei, Somatai Shaiza, Santa Singh, John Kingsley (Riston Rodrigues, 61), Benjamin Ansah, Yusif Yakubu, Tiken Singh (Pio Rodrigues, 83).

Tollygunge Agragami: Samit Debnath, Kabijit Khotel, Isiaka Awoyemi, Ebi Bar Bar, Goutam Debnath, Gouranga Dutta (Chinmoy Sarkar, 84), Sandip Das, Amit Das (Suman Dutta, 64), Jiten Rai, Akeem Abolanle, Sheikh Habeeb Ali.

Referee: A.K. Ashokan.