PANJIM: Sesa Football Academy came from a goal down to hold JSW Bengaluru FC to a 1-1 draw in the second round fixture of the Vedanta Youth Cup, Goa 2019. The Blues twice came close to scoring in the first half but they lacked a finishing touch.
The first half ended with neither of the goalkeepers facing many shots. However, as soon as the second half began, the game gathered great pace.
With Fredy Chawngthansanga in the centre, Bengaluru kept good possession of the ball, as Sesa players chased down right up to the goalkeeper.
As the game approached the hour mark, the Blues received a penalty courtesy of a Beckham Xavier tackle inside the box. Lalmunmawia stepped up to take the kick but Sesa custodian Hansel Coelho did great to parry his shot away. In the build up that followed the penalty, the goalkeeper made another amazing save, as the scores remained 0-0.
As the game gathered steam, Bengaluru found another breakthrough right on the hour mark as Akashdeep Singh finished from a close range to give
his side the lead. In the next 15 minutes, the Blues saw two of their shots saved brilliantly by Hansel while another one hit the woodwork. During the same time, Sesa player Russel Vaz put up a reckless tackle as the referee brandished a yellow card.
As the game progressed towards closure, Sesa unleashed a great fighting spirit as Aditya Talwar came on to replace Russel. In the 75th minute,
Reuben Castelino missed a great opportunity to put the home team back in the game. Nevertheless, Aston Rodrigues, who was in sound form on the day, scored a much-needed equalizer for Sesa Football Academy in the 80th minute.
Having lost the first game by close margins, Sesa showed a great spirit of fight back to earn a point. Aston Rodrigues was highly instrumental for the team in green and also received the Man of the Match trophy at the hands of Anju Turambekar, Head of Grassroots, AIFF and ex-Sesa Football Academy players Isaac D’souza and Tiburcio D’souza.
Sesa Football Academy next face Reliance Foundation Young Champs while Bengaluru FC play Tata Football Academy on 27th September.
The second round fixture of Vedanta Youth Cup, Goa 2019 between Reliance Foundation Young Champs and Tata Football Academy ended in a drubbing goalless draw. The former team came very close to winning in the latter stages of the game but Tata FA goalkeeper Sudarshan, who was in top form on the evening, denied all its efforts.
Young Champs’ Basith hit the woodwork just before the half time whistle in what turned out to be the only highlight of the first 45 minutes.
Moving on, in the second half, both the teams displayed a lot of aggression.
In the 47th minute, Young Champs forward Ayush had a great chance to put his team in white forward but his scuffed header meant the ball went wide off the right post. The young striker was once again in a great position to score but his attempt was effortlessly saved by Sudarshan.
Meanwhile, Tata FA attacker Arjun also missed a couple of chances on the other end of the pitch, much to the disappointment of his coaching staff. Later on in the 62nd minute, the midfielder was even booked for reckless tackle.
In the next 15 minutes, the Young Champs came inches close to scoring but they simply couldn’t put the ball past an in-form Sudarshan. The custodian performed three back-to-back saves in five minutes, two of them one-on-one with the Young Champs’ attackers.
On another occasion, Yash attempted an ambitious long range shot, but much to the relief of Sudarshan, the ball scraped just wide off the bar.
As the game progressed into injury time, Arjun received his marching orders as the referee brandished another yellow card for a second bookable offence. On the other hand, Young Champs’ Mikhil too received a yellow card for time wasting.
Post the final whistle, Chief Guest for the game, Gokuldas Nagvenkar, presented the Man of the Match trophy to Sudarshan, undoubtedly the best player on the field.
