Churchill Brothers' hopes avoiding relegation suffered a severe blow despite them coming from behind to hold JCT to a 1-1 draw in the National Football League match played at Nehru stadium in Goa [Images] on Wednesday.

JCT took the lead in the 20th minute through Harvinder Singh but Churchill fought back and restored parity in the 34th minute through Marcos Pereira.

The draw took Churchill's tally to 22 points from 21 matches and they now need to win their last matches against Mohun Bagan to avoid relegation.

JCT, who are in sixth place, increased their tally to 28 points from 21 matches.