Odafa Okonji scored a brace to guide Churchill Brothers to a 2-0 win over Sporting Clube de Goa in their opening National Football League encounter at Duler ground, Mapusa on Sunday.
Churchill Bros who had a lion's share of exchanges and scoring chances, took the lead at the half hour mark when Genius Zenith from the right relayed the ball to Nigerian George Ekeh whose brilliant shot was connected by his countrymate Okonji.
After the change of ends, Ekeh and Okanji, who gave a torrid time to Sporting's defense, increased the lead in the 61st minute with the latter again finding the net when he beat defender Mathew to slot the ball home off a pass by Ekeh.
Sporting midfield failed to combine in the absence of injured Wilton Gomes, where Nicholas Rodrigues had to carry the bulk of the load as Harbhajot Kabra failed to impress before being replaced by Jagdish Pappiah.
However, they came close to scoring on two occasions but Churchill's Vinay Singh was alert under the bar collecting a 30-yard shot from Rodrigues.
Okonji was awarded the Man-of-the-match for his brilliant performance upfront.