Down by three goals, Dempo fought back superbly through Mboyo Iyomi's hat-trick, the second of the league, to hold Churchill Brothers to an exciting 3-3 draw in an ONGC [Get Quote] I-League match at the Nehru stadium, in Margao, Goa [Images], on Wednesday.
Churchill Brothers, who played aggressively in the first half, scored through Felix Chimaokwu (14th, 20th minutes) and Okolie Odafa (32nd).
Dempo fought back in the last quarter of the first half and equalised through goals from Iyomi.
The draw takes Dempo to seven points from five matches while Churchill Brothers have 12 from six.
Churchill Brothers, who controlled the match in the first 30 minutes, capitalised on Dempo's defensive lapses to score thrice.
Dempo played defender Dominic Noronha in place of the regular John Dias to counter the threat of Odafa. But the ploy failed to work as Mahesh Gawli and Dominic concentrated more in guarding Odafa and allowed space for Felix to operate.
The former Salgaocar hit-man took advantage and scored a brace in a span of six minutes to put Dempo under pressure.
Khanthang Paite, from the left, sent a cross which Gawli failed to intercept and Felix sent a firm left footer that found the net in the 14th minute.
Dempo's defence got beaten yet again when a lob from Robert Lalthalma from the left found Odafa, who took a shot at goal.
Goalkeeper Satish Kumar manged to block the shot but the deflection went to Felix whose shot hit the underside of the bar and crossed the line.
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