Amol excels for Vaddy Merces

Amol excels for Vaddy Merces
HERALD SPORTS REPORTER
MAPUSA, JAN 24
In a fiery local derby, accomplished striker Amol Velimkar scored a brace to give Vaddy Sports Club, Merces the edge as they overcame Merces Sports Club 3-0 in GFA’s Second Division League at DSYA ground, Santa Cruz on Monday. Vaddy were 2-0 up at the breather.
Austino Fernandes, Prasano Govekar and Kiran Kari were booked for Merces while Francis Fernandes was the only booking for Vaddy.
Vaddy simply created more chances and striker Amol Velimkar’s finishing was absolutely clinical as he needed only half a yard of space to find the back of the net on both occasions. Vaddy’s Milton Negredo also dribbled well from midfield to put his rivals under a lot of pressure.
Merces who asked for a postponement in their first league match and gave a walkover in the second, finally got their campaign off and running.
There were occasions when Merces strung together good passes but the lack of match fitness clearly showed in the second half as they seemed to tire.
The match was played at high intensity from the kick off, as the players were spurred on by a large vocal crowd eager to see their side win.
In the 38th minute, Austino Fernandes committed a reckless tackle and gave away a penalty. Vaddy captain Venancio Gonsalves stepped up and kept his shot low to beat the keeper.
Four minutes later, a long ball was driven down the field from the Vaddy defence and with his first touch Amol managed to hold off a defender and direct the ball past the Merces keeper to double the lead.
After the breather, Vaddy’s Raju Kale hit the post from close range and judging by his reaction he must have felt he should have done a lot better with the opportunity.
It didn’t take long for Vaddy to strike again. In the 59th minute, Amol got on the end of a lose ball in the box which Merces failed to clear from a corner to score the third.
Vaddy has now collected six points from three matches, while Merces are yet to pick up a point.