Team Herald
MAPUSA: Dempo Sports Club struggled before scrapping past Club Sao Miguel de Taleigao by a solitary goal win in the GFA U-18 League Group B match played at Duler Stadium, here, on Thursday.
After today’s match Dempo SC stand with 12 points while CSM Taleigao remain at six points.
Both the sides started off brightly, initiating several moves, however it was Dempo SC who shot into the lead in the 20th minute of play when Vineet Bugde sent a perfect corner kick to Joliton who in turn passed it onto Kapil Hoble, where the opportunistic youngster made no mistake to head the ball home, 1-0.
Minutes before the halftime whistle, Kapil came teasingly close to scoring his brace, however his powerful grounder missed the target by a whisker.
On resumption of play, CSM Taleigao made some desperate efforts to come back into the match, however the Dempo SC defence along with their keeper proved a hard nut to crack.
In the 46th minute, Zuhid Makander beautifully sent a through pass to Prajat Mondal, however the latter’s fierce right footer was kept away by the diving Dempo SC keeper Falxbern Souza.
At the other end, Vineet ran down the right flank and sent a low cross inside the CSM Taleigao danger zone, however CSM Taleigao custodian Yachikesh Shirodkar came with a timely collection before onrushing Kapil could do any damage.
Yachikesh came to his side’s rescue on two more occasions, first to fist away Vineet’s curling free-kick and then to thwart Ronald Martin’s move from scoring.
