Saligao Sporting led by a goal at halftime.
In a well contested encounter, it was Saligao Sporting, who took the lead in the 8th minute of play when they were awarded a penalty after Valpoi FC’s Mubin Inamdar was found guilty by the referee for viciously tackling Saligao Sporting’s Rahul Naik, inside the penalty spot.
Naizi Shaikh, who stepped forward to take the kick made no mistake to give his side the precious lead.
Valpoi FC went all out in an attacking mode and came close to leveling terms twice in the first session. However, brilliant goalkeeping by Saligao Sporting goalkeeper Agostinho D’Mello saw the effort of Ashish Gawas and Mudassir Shah go in vain.
On resumption of play, Valpoi FC again came close to scoring. However, Saligao Sporting keeper Agostinho once again came to his side’s rescue to keep away Vishal Sawant’s effort.
After much proving, Valpoi FC managed to level terms in the 65th minute of play through the penalty spot when Saligao Sporting’s Sadam Hussain handled the ball inside the danger zone. Devraj Naik shot bang on target from the penalty spot to make it 1-1.
Buoyed by the goal, Valpoi FC once again got into the scoring act when Mudassir Shah sent a pinpoint cross to Vishal, who coolly slotted the ball in the open goal.
However, Saligao Sporting did not give up their hopes and worked tirelessly and were rewarded in the late 90th minute of the match. Craig Menezes collected the ball from Ajay Diwadkar and fired home a powerful right footer which gave no chance to the diving keeper 2-2.
