TEAM HERALD
MAPUSA: Nagoa Sports Club rallied to beat Sangolda Lightning Club 3-1 in a GFA Second Division football league match at Sangolda ground, Tuesday. Sangolda led 1-0 at half time.
Sangolda asserted their supremacy and took control of the initial proceedings. They almost took the lead within the first 15 minutes of the match but shots from Chandan, Nikhil and Suraj went wide, without troubling rival goalkeeper Razak.
Flavio Lopes RUSH HOUR: Nagoa’s Saish Palyekar clears the ball from Sangolda’s Chandan Govekar in a GFA Second Division football league match at Sangolda ground, Tuesday. |
Sangolda kept a firm grip on their opposition and surged ahead in the 17th minute after Suraj dribbled past Nagoa defender Jeevan and shot past rival goalkeeper Razak.
Three minutes later, referee Nilesh Vaigankar booked Sangolda’s Steven for his dangerous tackle on Nagoa’s Vinayak.
Sangolda could have doubled their lead in the 22nd minute after Prashant, off a counter attack, essayed a good through ball to Suraj inside the danger zone but the rival goalkeeper made a timely collection to deny Suraj a shot at goal.
Nagoa gradually picked up momentum after Savio unleashed a long ranger which went inches wide in the 25th minute.
Subsequently, Nagoa’s best chance to equalize came in the 30th minute after Savio’s corner kick went flying past the Sangolda defence and found Pavan, whose powerful shot was blocked by Sangolda’s Umang on the goalline and fell to Nagoa’s Rakesh, who shot over the crossbar from hand-shaking distance.
Nine minutes later, Pavan sent a well measured cross to Rakesh but Sangolda goalkeeper Washington made a clean collection.
After resumption, Sangolda continued to dominate as Chandan dribbled past Savio inside the box and shot past Razak but Nagoa’s Harish made a timely clearance before the ball could enter the goal.
In the 50th minute, Savio sent a good through ball to Rakesh who was brought down inside the box by Sangolda’s James as the referee awarded a penalty and booked the last named.
However, Savio shot wide from the spot-kick.
Nagoa were left frustrated but did not give up as Omkar equalized in the 76th minute with his powerful 40 yard grounder that left Washington stunned.
The equalizer came as a confidence booster for Nagoa who added their second in the 79th minute after Mansoor’s cross was tapped in by Rakesh from close range.
Three minutes later, Mansoor got his name on the score sheet after squeezing through the Sangolda defence and slotting home to make it 3-1.
Our Margao correspondent adds — Fr Agnelo Youth Sports Club, Paroda registered a 3-0 win over St Anthony’s Sports Club, Assolda in Salcete Zone GFA Second Division League football at Curtorim ground, Tuesday. There was no score at half time.
The teams started on a cautious note in the initial period of the game. As the match progressed, Fr Agnelo took control and made a couple of forays into the rival territory but could not score due to inept shooting by their forwards.
At the other end, St Anthony’s did create some decent opportunities but their forwards failed to get past the rival defence.
Crossing over, Fr Agnelo continued to dominate and began to torment the rival fragile defence with well orchestrated raids.
Substitute Mario Lima broke the deadlock in the 55th minute when he slotted past St Anthony’s goalkeeper Bacher Fernandes with an angular shot off a through pass from Francisco Afonso.
Later, Fr Agnelo looked to increase their lead but striker Francisco’s shot was collected by Bacher. Almost immediately, Mario’s feeble shot went straight into the safe hands of the rival goalkeeper after Francisco had put him on the platter.
Francisco doubled the lead for Fr Agnelo in the 65th minute. Francisco
Afonso was brought down by a rival defender outside the rival penalty box and the referee awarded him a free kick. Francisco’s free kick deflected off the rival wall and Francisco pounced on the deflection to give his team a 2-0 cushion.
Stunned by the deficit, St Anthony’s tried their best to come back into the game but could not get past the rival defence.
Later, St Anthony almost reduced the deficit but substitute Francisco Fernandes’ shot missed the mark narrowly off a Welson Fernandes’ cross. After that, Francisco Afonso pulled off a goal line save. The Fr Agnelo goalkeeper missed the flight of the ball off a flag kick taken by substitute Benson Fernandes. Taking advantage of the situation, Julio Fernandes almost netted the ball into the nylons with a smart header but Francisco denied him.
Substitute Mackroy Lima drove the last nail into the rival coffin in the 81st minute. St Anthony’s goalkeeper Bacher fisted away Mario Lima’s flag kick. However, the ball traveled to Mackroy who slotted past the rival goalkeeper to the far corner of the net.
With this win, Fr Agnelo collected four points from two matches while St Anthony’s suffered their second defeat and have one point from three matches.
Meanwhile, SAI, Ponda grounded Jawahar Club, Ponda 2-0 in a U-16 GFA football league match at Don Bosco ground, Panjim.
