Vasco Da Gama, Feb 10 (IANS): Martin Chaves scored a late goal to help Churchill Brothers FC Goa hold Namdhari FC to a 1-1 draw in an I-League 2023-24 clash at the Tilak Maidan here on Saturday. Martín Cháves scored in the 75th minute to cancel out the lead Namdhari FC took through Akashdeep Singh in the 57th minute as the two teams shared the spoils.

With both sides languishing in 10th and 11th place respectively, the draw doesn’t exactly help their cause of climbing the ladder. Churchill Brothers are now at 13 points, while Namdhari are at nine points after playing 12 games each. While the Punjab side are exempt from relegation in their debut I-League campaign, the Red Machines are six points clear of the danger zone.

Young forward Akashdeep Singh put Namdhari in front in the 57th minute with his second goal of the season. However, the sending-off of defender Saurabh Bhanwala in the 73rd minute after receiving a second yellow card proved to be a big blow for the visitors. Churchill Brothers equalised shortly afterwards with a goal from skipper Martín Cháves in the 75th minute.

Both teams will be back in action on February 14. Namdhari will return home to take on relegation-battlers NEROCA in the afternoon while Churchill Brothers will make a trip to Kalyani to face Inter Kashi in the evening.