Margao, March 4 : Salgaocar Sports Club had Lady Luck smiling on them after they survived a scare when HAL, Bangalore almost came close to defeating them but it was the green brigade all the way when they achieved a 3-0 victory in a 17th round match of I-League at Nehru Stadium, Fatorda on Friday.
The Bangalore team with R Srikanath, Lilyan Kenneth, Rohit Chand and Joseph Adeola among others came close to stealing the show but Salgaocar managed to consolidate their lead at the top of the table with 40 points, seven ahead of second placed fellow Goans Churchill Brothers.
HAL put up solid resistance against the much superior Salgaocar, especially in the first half and fortified the defence by playing Xavier Vijay Kumar. They packed the midfield to cut Salgaocar’s strikers Yakubu Yusif and Japanese Ryuji Sueoka. The strategy almost worked as they chased after every ball and refused to wilt any under pressure. That forced Yakubu, Sueoka and Gilbert Oliveira to take harried shots at the rival goal.
Salgaocar survived a close call at the opening when Ankit Sharma’s free kick was blocked by Salgaocar goalkeeper Karanjit Singh in the second minute. A minute later, action shifted to the rival penalty area following man-of-the-match midfielder Gilbert Oliveira’s cross from the right. HAL’s defenders were caught napping but Francis Fernandes shot wide from close range.
Salgaocar coach Karim Bencherifa’s decision to bench Tomba Singh and try out Baldem Singh did augur well for him as the waist line exerted the usual free flowing passes to the forwards. Salgaocar midfielder Gilbert was the biggest culprit as he bungled after receiving Francis Fernandes’ measured cross from the left in the 15th minute.
Yakubu almost broke the deadlock in the 17th minute when the Ghanaian striker’s smart header off a chip from Gilbert was saved on the goalline by HAL defender Gautam Debnath.
In the last ten minutes, Salgaocar upped the tempo and went all out in search of goals, but Yakubu and Ryuji failed to find the mark from ideal situations.
Changing ends, Salgaocar came into their own. It was probably the pep talk of coach Bencherifa that saw the players step on the gas. They not only mixed power and pace in their attacks but also decided to go for the kill.
Salgaocar shot into the lead in the 60th minute when Yakubu picked up the ball from defender Rino Anto and made his way to the box to slot past HAL goalkeeper P Pramod. Salgaocar maintained pressure and doubled the lead in the 72nd minute through Gilbert. Following a well measured cross from Francis from the left, striker Sueoka and Ekena failed to connect it and midfielder Gilbert nicely tapped it in to give the 2-0 cushion.
Substitute Ekene Ikenwa rounded off the tally in the 90th minute off a pass from Tomba Singh.
Salgaocar coach Bencherifa said he was very happy with the result adding that the three points were very essential as it fitted in the scheme of their objective. “We were on the ascendancy in the second half, after having some difficulty in the first. Actually we needed just one goal but after scoring two, we knew that we would reach the top,” Bencherifa pointed out.
