MAPUSA: Goa and Kerala will clash in the final of the 2nd All-India Christian football championship for the Agape Cup, at Duler stadium, Duler, on Saturday, 9 a.m.
The Agape Cup attracted 11 teams in all and which is to be the selection event for the Indian team probable to play in the Expo 2014 Unity World Cup to be held in Goa and other major cities in India as a part of the exposition of the sacred relics of St Francis Xavier.
Kerala overcame Karnataka with a score line of 5-3 in the tie-breaker after the two teams were locked in a goalless battle in the first semi-finals. Learnel, Arun, Jish, Anil and Sarath converted for Kerala while Joseph, Kiran and Jaikumar scored for Karnataka and due to miss by Chetan the disappointment to Karnataka.
Goa entered the final with a resounding victory over defending champions Tamil Nadu with a huge margin of 5-1. James started started the goal scoring in the seventh minute of the first half and two minutes later it was Trevor who made it 2-0.
Later, James pumped in two more goals to complete his hat-trick and at the lemon time the score was 4-0 for Goa against a tired looking Tamil Nadu team.
Joston completed the tally for Goa while Anto reduced the margin through a penalty for Tamil Nadu.
In the matches played in the morning, Tamil Nadu and Rest of India ended in a goalless draw. In the second match, Goa overcame an initial challenge from Maharastra but went on to score a comfortable 4-2 win, with Maharastra going in the lead through Sunny’s move and there was an equalizer for Goa through a self-goal from Maharashtra defender Prasant.
Then it was another goal scored by Shashant for Maharashtra but later, Joshua scored the second hat-trick of the tournament for Goa and ensuring themselves into the semi-finals.
Telangana defeated Madhya Pradesh 2-0 with goals scored by VJ Rodricks and Stevan. While Gujarat defeated Jharkand by a solitary goal scored by Joseph Xavier.
