TEAM HERALD
MAPUSA: Mansoor Khan scored a fine hat-trick that gave newcomers Valpoi Football Club a comprehensive 4-1 victory over Vagator Parish Youth Sports Club in GFA’s Second Division League match (Bardez Zone) at Sangolda ground, Thursday.
Valpoi led 2-1 at half time.
Valpoi got off to a perfect start in their opening match as Manish Kauthenkar gave them the lead early on but it was soon neutralized through Stepelton Fernandes’ stunner.
However, Mansoor scored the second for his team at the half hour mark and then went on to register his hat-trick in the second session.
Vagator had the first chance to score when Stepelton sent in a dangerous free-kick inside the box but Julius D’Souza could not provide the finishing touch with only rival keeper Niklesh Naik at his mercy.
At the other end, Valpoi made their first move ahead in the fifth minute which turned into a goal. Mansoor provided his strike partner, Manish with a defence splitting through ball and the latter finished neatly past goalkeeper Rohan Viegas.
Two minutes later, Mansoor could have scored the second when he got past the rival keeper but then shot wide from a narrow angle.
Vagator were caught off-balance with their rival’s quick passing and found it hard to reorganize. However, out of nowhere, Stepelton came with the equalizer in the 11th minute as he tried his luck from 35-yards out which eventually left keeper Niklesh stunned.
With the scores levelled, the teams provided end-to-end action but Valpoi clearly were the better side with the opportunities they created. At the half hour mark, Mansoor was awarded for his efforts as he scored his side’s second goal of the evening. Rohan could only watch as Mansoor chipped the ball over him off a long ball provided by Siddesh Narvekar.
Post resumption, Vagator were in total control but lacked finishing as Stepelton shot wide and Julius headed over from an ideal position.
Valpoi knew that a slender lead won’t be enough and Mansoor did what he does best in the 62nd minute. Right-back Safir Khan surprised the rival defenders with a wonderful ball to Mansoor, who timed his run perfectly and simply chipped over keeper Rohan.
It was not yet over for Mansoor as the talismanic striker sealed his hat-trick in style by toying with the rival defence and finishing equally well as the ball rattled the upright and slowly sneaked past the goal line to make it 4-1 in the final minutes.
