TEAM HERALD
sports@herald-goa.com
OLD GOA: Needing a victory Bhagwati SC, Chimbel scored a solitary goal victory over Ponda Footballers in an Ilhas Zone GFA’s 3rd Division League match, at St Estevam ground, Saturday, to qualify for the play-off.
Bhagwati were the second team from Chimbel to qualify for the play-off after Sateri SC being already qualified from the group with 14 points in their kitty.
Bhagwati started in an aggressive fashion knowing truly well that a win would guarantee them a place in the playoff. But, the strikers proved wasteful in front of the goal and there was no score at the stroke of half time.
The defensive play of Ponda Footballers also proved a handful for the Bhagwati strikers as they were unable to penetrate the rival territory.
However, an individual brilliance by Vinayak Kunkolkar provided Bhagwati the breakthrough, immediately after resumption.
Atul Naik fed a through ball to Vinayak who got past his marker, dodged an advancing Ponda keeper and then put the ball in an open net to give his side a 1-0 lead, which they preserved till the final whistle.
With the win, Bhagwati SC went level with Portais Sporting Club at 13 points each. However, Bhagwati qualified as they beat Portais Sporting Club in the league matches.
Speaking to Herald after the match, Bhagwati SC coach Prakash Sawant was all excited as he said that his team deserved to qualify for the playoff.
“Since we are level on points with Portais, the new rule of the GFA states that the head to head result is taken into account to decide the qualifier,” Sawant opined while further stating that since Bhagwati SC had defeated Portais, it is a foregone conclusion that Bhagwati SC has qualified as the second best team from the group.
