SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2024
Team Herald
PANJIM: Maratha Warriors clinched the League De Champions 2020, defeating Shree Rudreshwar Strikers (SRS) by a solitary goal in the inaugural football league, organised by Football Association of Sankhalim at Cudnem ground, recently.
Aswin Sawal scored the only goal in the 16th minutes to help the Virdi side to win the title.
Ashwin Sawal was named star of the league for his heroic performance in the league, while Lavu Gawas from Sunrisers FC won the golden boot award. Lokesh Gawande (Rudreshwar Strikers), Shablo Ghadi (Maratha Warriors) and Bhupesh Kamat (Rudreshwar Strikers) were awarded best goalkeeper, best defender and best midfielder awards respectively. Rudreshwar Strikers bagged the best disciplined team of the league.
Earlier, the champions defeated Sunrisers FC 2-1 in the first semi-final, while keeper Lokesh pulled out two brilliant saves in the tie-breaker against Sirsat Challengers to put Rudreshwar Strikers in the finals.
Total 14 teams from nine different local leagues, namely, STP Super League, United Karapur Football League, Parye Football League, Housing Board Super League, Virdi Football League, Kudne Super League, Navelim Premier League, Maina Super League and Amona Super League had participated in the Champions League.
The league was played in two phases where nine champions of their local leagues were given direct entry into the group stage, while five runners-up played in the qualifiers to book three slots for the main event.
