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FATORDA: Dempo Sports Club scored a 2-1 win over Sporting Clube de Goa in the Group A match of the 2nd edition of Bhausaheb Bandodkar Memorial Trophy, at Nehru Stadium, Fatorda, on Tuesday.
The Goa Professional League champions Sporting Clube drew the first blood through Doyal Alves, while the newly promoted League II Dempo SC restored parity through Kapil Hoble before the break.
Dempo SC capitalised on a goalkeeping error to gain the lead, while the honours were done by Shubham Rawat, who slotted one in to seal them the win.
With both sides battling for a must-win, the Golden Eagles were left without Head Coach Samir Naik, who had received a red card in the earlier match against Brisbane Roar FC, on Saturday.
On the other hand, Flaming Oranje displayed control in the midfield zone playing short passes, their best chance came in the 16th minute as Francisco Fernandes tried his luck from the edge of the box which went narrowly wide.
Sporting Clube continued to mount pressure and broke the deadlock in the 21st minute as Ahongshangbam Sushil played in a through ball inside the rival box that was picked up by Doyal Alves, who curled one in the bottom left corner to give them the lead.
Dempo SC regrouped from the setback and gained momentum in the midfield. In the 32nd minute, Dempo SC levelled the playing field as Shubham Rawat played in swift pass into splitting the Sporting Clube defence only to find Kapil Hoble. Hoble with his composure controlled the ball and calmly slotted it in the back of the net.
Dempo SC came close to finding the lead as Shubham beat the Sporting Clube custodian and the rolling ball was going towards the empty goal but was denied by Sporting Clube’s defender Joel Colaco, who cleared the ball for a corner kick.
The second half saw Dempo SC emerge with renewed determination to take the lead. Their efforts were rewarded in the 72nd minute when Sporting Clube’s Myron Fernandes played a back pass to goalkeeper Abhimanyu Singh, who misjudged the ball. Dempo SC’s Vinay Harji anticipated the error and intercepted the loose ball, which fell to Shubham. He seized the opportunity, powering it into the net to make it 2-1.
Moments later, Sporting Clube came close to equalising as Mark Carvalho beat the Dempo SC goalkeeper but his low shot didn’t have the power to cross the goal line and Dempo SC’s Shallum Pires thwarted away the threat.
Sporting Clube continued their pursuit in search of an equaliser. However, the Dempo SC defence held firm to seal them a 2-1 win and secure them three points.
