PANJIM: In a thrilling match, the Flaming Oranje thrashed SAI-Goa 4-0 in the AIFF U-18 I-League at Don Bosco ground, Panjim, on Wednesday.
The first half did not witness much action as both the teams failed to create a great deal of chances and kept the ball to themselves as the clock struck half time with a stalemate.
The second half, however belonged to Sporting Clube as they went on a rampage demolishing the SAI Defence in all aspects.
Sporting Clube took hardly two minutes from the kick off in the second half to open their score line as Akeraj Martins set up Daryal Costa with a beautiful through ball who went on to open the score line for Sporting Clube in the 47th minute.
In the 58th minute, a long pass from the Sporting Clube custodian Shervin D’Cunha was collected by Daryal Costa to dribble past the SAI defence to fire a shot which was blocked by the goalkeeper, however as usual the smartness and quick reaction from Akeraj resulted in the ball landing inside the SAI nets for the second time giving Sporting Clube the two goal advantage.
The third goal totally belonged to Akeraj as he dribbled past a thickly flooded SAI box to place the ball perfectly into the lower left corner making it 3-0 in favour of Sporting Clube in the 61st minute.
The fourth goal came in the 87th minute as a long ball from Harshad Naik was well controlled by Akeraj who managed to send a good cross to Gautam Dais to fire his shot, the rebound came straight into the foot of Daryal who was never missing it from such a close range.
The Sporting Clube manager Anthony Vas said, “We are pleased with the boys performance. This victory gives us a real shot at qualifying.”
