Team Herald
sports@herald-goa.com
MAPUSA: Corps of Signals held their nerves despite trailing by a goal to get the better of Vasco Sports Club 2-1 in the 16th round league match of the GFA’s Professional league, at Duler stadium, here, on Sunday.
Both teams having lost their league matches needed a win to gain some momentum going into the next round of matches, fought evenly and were tied goalless at the end of first session with all the goals coming in the second session.
Vasco started brightly and in the fourth minute Altaf Navaloor found U-20 Sheldon Pereira with a curling pass who was a bit slow in getting to the end of the ball and dispatching it into the net.
At the other end, Shuklab Bardolol’s crisp cross was headed by Nim Bhutia which struck the top corner of the goal post and before any Signals player could pounce onto the rebound it was cleared to safety by Vasco defender Amit Das .
Both teams kept creating openings wherein Shuklab Bardol’s dangerous cross into the box found Amit Tariyal who could not keep his header goalwards for Signals while Vasco’s Sanwil D’Costa’s well hit long range ricocheted off the crossbar.
In the 26th minute, a miss pass by Vasco’s Nigerian Olumide Olowolagba was well read by Signals Ankit Singh who without wasting time let go of a rasping shot that hit the top post and the ball rolled to Nim Bhutia but defender Olumide recovered quickly to push the ball out for a corner before any damage could be done.
Changing ends in the 57th minute, Signals keeper Binu Purushothaman brought a smart stop to deny Olumide’s firm header from entering the net off a corner-kick taken by Micky.
Vasco keeper Sanju Thapa too came to his side rescue minutes later by blocking a well-directed header from Nim Bhutia off a free-kick delivered by substitute Vishnu Chhetri.
Vasco finally broke the deadlock in the 65th minute when a corner kick taken by Micky saw Nigerian Olumide cleverly head the ball in the path of Shree Bibetta Radhakrishnan who slammed the ball past the helpless Signal’s keeper Binu.
Down by a goal, the Army man pushed more men forward and managed in getting back on level terms in the 79th minute through Aniket who finished clinically from a headed pass by Shuklab to make it 1-1.
Just went it looked both the teams would return home with a point each, Signals scored the decisive and the match-winning goal in the 85th minute through an unlikely source when substitute Lairellakpam Singh’s power packed shot struck Vasco defender Mainoo Dadanuvoor and entered the goal with the keeper completely beaten with the deflection to make it 2-1.
