TEAM HERALD
MAPUSA: Siolim Sodiem Sports and Cultural Association rallied to beat Saligao United 3-1 in a GFA Second Division football league match at Sangolda ground, Wednesday. Saligao led 1-0 at the breather.
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| CROSS CONNECTION: Siolim’s Mukund Shirodkar tackles Saligao’s Terence Fernandes in a GFA Second Division football league match at Sangolda ground, Wednesday. |
Saligao started with Terence Fernandes and Sigmund Silveira upfront while Morgan Fernandes partnered Rupesh Madkar in the striking role for Siolim.
Saligao started on the front foot with good attacking moves. In the seventh minute Terence’s perfect cross to Edwin Fernandes was collected in the nick of time by Siolim goalkeeper Kewan D’Souza.
Saligao maintained good ball possession and surged ahead in the 25th minute through Terence, whose adroit placement beat Kewan off a defence splitting pass from Sigmund.
Stung by the setback, Siolim regrouped quickly and threatened the rival goal in the next minute but Amit Fedrnandes’ rasping long ranger went inches wide.
In the 32nd minute, Saligao could have doubled their advantage after Sigmund set up Bhavesh Khandolkar inside the box but the rival custodian made a timely clearance.
Just before the lemon break, Siolim substitute Gopal Shirodkar squandered a golden opportunity to equalize after the latter’s shot was blocked by Saligao goalkeeper Marshall Simoes from hand-shaking distance.
In the second session, Siolim came close to equalizing in the 55th minute after Amit’s powerful effort was blocked by Marshall. Gopal made a mess of the rebound and ballooned over from close.
Siolim kept the rival defenders on their toes and equalized in the 71st minute through Rashiketh Salgaocar’s strike off a Shashank Ashwekar assist.
The equalizer boosted Siolim’s confidence as they went on to score their second in the 75th minute after Rupesh’s pass found an unmarked Gopal, who easily tapped in.
Saligao’s morale hit a blow in the 82nd minute when Amit unleashed a venomous shot that left Marshall stunned.
Siolim have collected six points from four matches while Saligao are yet to open their account after three matches.
Our Margao correspondent adds — Maina Sports Club rallied to hold Sao Jose de Areal Sports Club to a 1-1 draw in Salcete Zone GFA Second Division league at Curtorim ground, Wednesday. There was no score at half time.
Areal held the upper hand in the opening session and had a couple of scoring opportunities but their forwards muffed sitters.
Midway in the opening session, Areal nearly broke the deadlock but striker Francis Baretto shot wide from close.
At the other end, Maina slowly took over the reins but were unable to get past the rival defence.
Areal nearly took the lead but Monty Valadares spurned the easiest chance and shot wide with only the rival goalkeeper at his mercy.
Crossing over, Areal put up a better display and called the shots against the rival citadel but yielded no result. Francis Baretto who was a thorn in the flesh of the rival defence put Areal into the lead in the 69th minute when he tapped the ball home off a well measured cross from
Lepito Gomes. However, their joy was shortlived when striker Alvito Colaco neutralized the lead in the 70th minute when his snap shot crashed into the net.
After leveling the score, both teams went all-out in search of the elusive match-winner but failed to get the desired result as both teams’ defenders stood tall in protecting their citadel.
With this draw, the teams collected two points from four matches respectively.
