TEAM HERALD
MARGAO: A ten-man Maina Sports Club stunned United Club of Telaulim 5-3 in a Salcete Zone GFA Second Division league at Curtorim ground, Monday. UCT led 1-0 at the breather.
The game begun with UCT looking to make an impression with striker Paxton Gomes troubling the rival defence. It was in the 19th minute that striker Daulat Dessai slotted past the rival goalkeeper with a snap shot off Paxton.
Spurred by the success, UCT pile on the pressure and created several openings but their forwards wasted golden chances.
Mania were a subdued lot and failed to function as a cohesive unit, hardly testing the rival goalkeeper.
Crossing over, UCT continued to hunt for more goals with striker Paxton and Daulat repeatedly attacking the rival citadel.
UCT doubled the lead in the 56th minute through a spot kick. Striker Melwyn Colaco was brought down by the rival goalkeeper and the referee awarded the spot kick. Joel Niasso made no mistake with the resultant spot kick, sending the rival goalkeeper on the wrong way.
In the 60th minute, Chrisley Costa put the issue beyond doubt when he unleashed a stiff shot which caught the rival goalkeeper napping.
After taking a 3-0 cushion, UCT slackened the pace and allowed their opponents to launch counter-attacks. In the 61st minute Maina reduced the margin when striker Venson Figueredo beat rival goalkeeper Sachin Ashtekar with a clinical finish off John Fernandes.
The reducer enlivened Maina players who kept on mounting pressure and scored their second goal in the 64th minute with Alvito Colaco scoring with a deft placement.
In the 65th minute defender Domingos Rebello put Maina on level terms as he punted the ball to the far corner of the net. Three minutes later, Shambu Kutkar put Maina into the lead when he punished the rival goalkeeper with a nice placement. Earlier, Maina suffered a jolt when Andrew Colaco was ejected by referee for foul language.
UCT failed to make use of the numerical advantage and it was Maina which came up trumps scoring in the 90th minute.
Maina finished their engagements with five points, having tasted their first win. Despite the defeat, UCT stay atop with 12 points from six matches.
In another match, St Anthony’s Sports Club, Assolda came from behind to defeat Raia Sporting Club 2-1 at panchayat ground.
Raia held the upper hand in the opening session and took the lead through Jenifer Clemente in the 9th minute.
Post resumption, St Anthony’s Seby Fernandes neutralized the lead in the 53rd minute.
Spurred by the equalizer, St Anthony’s intensified their forays and striker Seby Fernandes struck the match-winner in the 63rd minute.
With this win, St Anthony’s retained their place in the league with seven points from six matches while Raia Sporting finished their engagements with 12 points from six matches while UCT and Raia Sporting are tied with 12 points.
Both, UCT and Raia qualified for Second Division play-off.
At CAC complex, Cansaulim, Sao Jose de Areal Sports Club and Fr Agnelo Youth Sports Club played out a goalless draw.
Fr Agnelo collected eight points from six matches while Sao Jose de Areal stay on six points from the same number of encounters. Sao Jose de Areal Sports Club and Maina Sports Club stand relegated to Third Division.
