MAPUSA: Guardian Angel stunned Sesa FA with a hard fought 1-0 win in GFA’s Goa Professional League at Duler stadium, here, on Wednesday. Joel Barretto scored the all important goal for Guardian Angel which now has six points, while Sesa FA stays on three points.
Both the team coaches brought in just one change each, in their starting XI, having won their opening first round matches of GPL. Sesa were indeed a better side having more ball possession and playing short passes. But their strikers Chaitan Dabholkar and Velrose Dias were given very little space to operate upfront by the Angel’s last line of defense marshalled by Peter Carvalho and Akram Yadwad. Sesa did have two close attempts at the rival goal in the first session, but Angel’s goalkeeper Oswin Rodrigues brought a full stretched diving block off Chaitan Dabholkar deadly cross and the ball travelled to Shridharnath Gawas whose hot blooded shot hit Angel’s defender Milroy Clement for a corner.
Minutes later Shridharnath sent an intelligent through pass to Velrose Dias who was brilliantly thwarted by Angel’s custodian Oswin in a one to one situation. Angel’s had just one good attempt at the rival goal, but Joel Barretto placement was collected by Sesa’s goalkeeper Roanal Gaunkar.
On crossing ends Sesa’s coach Charles Dias used all of his five substitutions to strengthen their attack but came close in opening their account only in the 60th minute, where substitute Clencio Pinto squared the ball to unmarked Shridharnath Gawas outside the penalty box whose stinging drive sailed just past the crossbar. In the 80th minute Angel’s stunned their opponents with medio Joel Barretto chesting a cross from Clifton Rebello and then connected it with a rasping left footer to make it 1-0. Joel Barretto of Guardian Angel received the man of the match award from Melroy Maura-Director of Operations of Sesa FA.
