TEAM HERALD
MAPUSA: Sesa crushed Curtorim Gymkhana 4-0 to move into the semi-finals of GFA knock-out football tournament at Duler Stadium, here, Wednesday.
Sesa dominated the first session, scoring four times but Curtorim fought bravely in the second half and did not concede a goal, even after being reduced ten-man.
Curtorim coach Alex Dias fielded Francisco Rodrigues and Arcanjo Quadros upfront while Jevino Fernandes was their lone substitute.
On the other hand, Sesa coach Clifford Chukwuma fielded a young team, consisting mostly of U-20 players with Umesh Harijan and Yogesh Kadam leading the attack.
Sesa dominated the first session with good short passes and did not allow their rivals to settle down. They came close to scoring early in the game but Umesh’ effort hit the upright.
Sesa exerted pressure and took the lead in the 33rd minute when Umesh opened the floodgates after he picked up a clever through ball from teammate Sunny Singh and slotted past Curtorim goalkeeper Jonathan Faleiro with a deft placement.
Two minutes later, Sesa doubled their lead after Agnelo Quadros made a dangerous run in the left flank and squared the ball to Yogesh, who tapped in from hand-shaking distance.
Subsequently, goalkeeper Jonathan failed to collect an in-swinging flag-kick from Sesa’ Sidharth Kundaikar and the ball fell in the path of Amol Salgaokar, who bulged the net from close for Sesa’s third goal.
Sesa scored their fourth goal, three minutes before the lemon break through Umesh, who registered his brace with a neat finish.
Changing over, Curtorim’s Joyston was replaced with Jevino but few minutes later they were reduced to 10-man after Francisco Rodrigues picked up an injury.
Meanwhile, Sesa continued with the same momentum and could have inflated their lead but Sunny’s long ranger kissed the crossbar in the 53rd minute.
Curtorim’s defence was fragile but they rode their luck and survived continuous attacks from their rivals.
