Team Herald
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MAPUSA: Two thrilling quarter-final clashes at the 24th Vagator Soccer 2025 tournament saw St Savio Sports Club, Calangute and Assonora United FC book their places in the semi-finals after impressive performances on back-to-back days at the Vagator football ground.
On Wednesday, St Savio SC, Calangute, cruised past hosts Vagator Parish Youth Sports Club with a dominant 5-1 win. The match tilted in Calangute’s favour early when Vagator’s Sahil Gadekar was shown a straight red card in the 4th minute for handling the ball inside the penalty box. Pedro Gonsalves coolly converted the resulting penalty to make it 1-0.
Gonsalves struck again in the 17th minute with his second successful penalty after another foul in the box. Calangute extended their dominance as Fasel D’Souza netted the third just before the interval.
Resuming after half-time, Calangute showed no signs of relenting. Domnic Fernandes added a fourth, before Gonsalves completed his hat-trick in the 52nd minute, sealing a comprehensive 5-0 lead. Vagator managed a late consolation through Kunal Virnodkar in the 70th minute.
Pedro Gonsalves was awarded man-of-the-match for his standout performance, netting a fine treble.
A day earlier, Assonora United FC edged past Sinquerim SC with a 3-0 win via the tie-breaker after a goalless stalemate in regulation time.
Assonora created the better chances in open play, with Prajot Naik leading the charge. He fired a long-range effort narrowly over in the 5th minute, missed a close opportunity in the 13th from a Jovian Conceicao cross, and again tested the keeper in the 18th with a powerful drive. Punaji Kalangutkar came closest to scoring when his header was cleared off the line by Sinquerim’s Aiyan Shaikh.
Sinquerim too had a chance through Pratik Tirodkar in the 26th minute, but it was comfortably saved. With the score locked at 0-0, the match went into penalties.
Sinquerim failed to convert any of their spot-kicks, while Assonora made no mistake — with successful penalties from Kunal Salgaonkar, Sattyam Gawas, and Projot Arabekar sealing the win.
Prajot Naik was named man-of-the-match for his consistent attacking presence throughout the contest.