TEAM HERALD
MAPUSA: Sesa Football Academy maintained their unbeaten run as they rallied to ground Churchill Brothers Sports Club 4-2 in Under-19 I-League qualifying match (Goa zone) at Sirsaim ground, on Wednesday.
Kislay Sajwan scored a first half brace for Churchill Bros while Stephen Colaco did the same for Sesa FA in the second session. Jaison Vaz and Estevan Mendes also netted a goal each for Sesa.
The teams were locked 2-2 at half time.
The Red Machines got off to a perfect start as striker Kislay made most of the given opportunity and shot past Sesa keeper Faiyaz Shaikh with a deft placement in the very first minute.
Six minutes later, the away team would have been up by two goals but unfortunately, Blasco Fernandes’ rasping drive hit the upright and fell back in play as Churchill Bros controlled the early proceedings.
Sesa FA struggled to find inroads in the initial stages but Stephen managed to squeeze a clever ball past the rival defence in the 18th minute that found Jaison and the latter muscled past defender Elvis Barretto to make it 1-1.
However, Sesa FA had hardly finished with their celebrations as Churchill scored their second goal, in the next minute. This time, Kislay unleashed a venomous right-footer that found the top right corner for his brace.
Sesa FA had to regroup yet again. At the half hour mark, they stormed into the rival territory and Elvis was guilty of bringing down Jaison at the edge of the box, prompting Referee Melvin D’Costa to award a free-kick. Estevan stepped up, took a deep breath and curled a beauty over the Sesa FA wall, as lanky keeper Bilal dived helplessly.
Changing over, Sesa FA started strongly and took the lead. A hand throw by Jaison found Stephen, who did not waste time and struck from 25-yard. Subsequently, Stephen had his second of the evening as he dribbled past a couple of rival defenders, including keeper Bilal and blasted into the goal from the six-yard box in the 72nd minute.
Churchill Bros did not give up and tried hard to get back into the match but their strikers missed some golden opportunities.
