SM Taleigao down St Mathew in explosive 2nd division affair
HERALD SPORTS REPORTER
MAPUSA, FEB 10
In an explosive encounter, 10-men Sao Minguel de Taleigao overcame St Mathew Sports Club, Azossim 3-1 in Second division at Dr Remigio Pinto ground, Taleigao on Thursday. Taleigao led 2-1 at the breather.
Sao Minguel defender Daniel Noronha was sent off ten minutes from the end for a handball, which sparked outrage from Sao Minguel’s president, Anthoy Levino Pereira who was playing in the midfield and had to be restrained by teammates and coaching staff as he aggressively made his feelings clear to referee Anthony Vaz.
“In the first half, when our player was brought down in the penalty box by the goalkeeper, the referee awarded a penalty and only booked the goalkeeper when he should have been sent off. In the second half, when our defender handled the ball outside the box, the referee directly showed a red card,” remarked Anthony, who is also a practicing referee.
In the 26th minute, Sao Minguel took the lead through Steven Baptiste who blasted into the back of the net after receiving a long ball from the defence.
Ten minutes later, Sao Minguel were awarded a penalty after the St Mathew goalkeeper, Celio Fernandes brought down his opponent. The goalkeeper received a yellow card.
Two minutes before the interval, St Mathew midfielder Dylan D’Cunha tricked his way past the defender and neatly lifted the ball into the top right hand corner.
Eleven minutes after the change of ends, Sao Minguel wrapped up the game when Victor Lobo superbly controlled the ball in the air and delicately placed the ball past the St Mathew custodian.
With ten minutes to go, Daniel Noronha handled the ball outside the box and was shown a straight red by the referee.
After the match, the protests of the Sao Minguel team were still being heard and the match officials had to lock themselves in their room.
St Mathew manager, Jesmon Alfonso was also angered that one of his players cards was misplaced in the confusion by the match officials. “I am extremely dissapointed, my player Schubert Pereira’s registration card has been misplaced,” remarked Jesmon.
