Team Herald
MAPUSA: Defending champions Goa scored a resounding 8-3 win over Karnataka in the mens’ category while the women’s team defeated Madhya Pradesh, 5-0 in the 4th Senior National Futsal Championship, organised by Futsal Association of Goa (FAG) under the aegis of Futsal Association of India (FAI), played at Peddem Sports Complex, Mapusa, on Monday.
While Goa sealed their final berth, Maharashtra edged past Mizoram 2-0 in the second semi-final. The North east team gave the Maharashtra side a tough fight as both teams displayed some attacking brand of football. The Maharashtra defence stood strong as they denied the Mizoram side any chance to sneak in and score. D Singh scored from the spot to give his team a lead in the much anticipated game.
But nothing seemed to have been working for the Mizoram team as Vishal Magle added another to give the Maharashtra a well needed two goal lead in the game. The Mizoram boys pushed hard to open their tally but a resolute defence denied them all the chances.
In the other semi-final of the day, Goa thumped Karnataka 8-3. After sneaking their way past Tamil Nadu in the quarterfinals 4-3 via tie-breaker, Goa got the game underway with an early goal courtesy to Michael Silva who scored in the 2nd minute itself. The joy was short-lived as Karnataka levelled in the 5th minute as Raj Kiran lobbed the ball in off Sridhar’s pass.
The game intensified as Karnataka had a few potent attacks through Sridhar and he made no mistake to give his team a 2-1 lead in the 7th minute. But Goa equalised in the next minute through Fredson whose powerful shot was in no reach for the away keeper. Fredson has been outstanding throughout the tournament. The National player showed his class and why he is rated as the top player slotting him the equaliser.
On the other side, Karnataka’s Sridhar was close to scoring but placed his shot high. Fredsan Marshall scored again for Goa in the 18th minute to give the team a 3-2 lead in the first half. Moving into the second half, Karnataka found the equaliser through Arbhaz Khan. Both teams looked eager to move on and it was the home side who took the lead through Savio Fernandes in the 8th minute of the second half. With a one Goa cushion, Sridhar tried his luck but it was the Goan keeper who saved the attempts created by the away team.
Nothing seemed to have stopped the Goa team as they ran riot and scored four back-to-back goals in a span of ten minutes. Hannlum Furtado scored two, Fredsan Marshall and Lyndon Cardozo scored one each in the second half to snatch away a win from the away side.
Meanwhile the Goan girls went into the game as strong contenders and this was evident as they attacked from the start. Reema Noronha’s shot on target was well saved by the M.P keeper but she made no mistake to score in the next minute off a free kick making it 1-0. The next minute Velanie Fernandes tipped the ball to Reema who added her second for the day.
The Goan side dominated proceedings and Velanie tried her luck from far but an alert keeper Mohimma Khatun saved it. Goa added another to their tally with Velanie Fernandes netting in her fine strike in the back of the nets in the 10th minute.
The away side had their share of chances too as Rani Bourmick was good at her feet but she failed to get support from her other teammates. In the first half, the best attempt by Madhya Pradesh was created by Rani but her goal bound shot was well caught by the goan custodian.
Moving over, Madhya Pradesh were restricted to their half as Goa continued with stringent attacks. And the home side added another through Velanie five minutes into the second half which gave Goa a comfortable 4-0 lead. Velanie added another and completed her hat-trick as the Madhya Pradesh side was left in dismay with Goa’s performance.
Shilpa Soni should have pulled one down for Madhya Pradesh but she failed to time her run. Michel Castanha played an impressive role in the team with her excellent clearances.
The women’s final will be played at 11 a.m. while the men’s final will be played at 12.15 p.m.The matches will be streamed live on youtube: https://youtu.be/GwZA3OeH_x0
