TEAM HERALD
sports@herald-goa.com
MAPUSA: Goals either side of half time from Pramod Mardolkar and Gautham Kankonkar gave Sao Minguel de Taleigao a 2-0 victory over Salcete Football Club in GFA’s First Division at Sangolda ground, Tuesday. Sangolda led 1-0 at the break.
Taleigao’s goalkeeper Xavier Estrocio was the hero of the day, as he saved a penalty from Josley Miranda just before the break and later in the game bravely pulled off a bagful of instinctive saves to deny his opponents.
Sao Minguel made a change in the left wing after just 29 minutes, bringing in Wesceslau Rebello for Tyson Fernandes, which proved effective in adding an extra yard of pace to the attack.
Salcete played with an attacking 3-5-2, with the wing backs surging forward at every opportunity and although they managed to put a lot of crosses into the danger zone, Salcete were sadly missing the finishing touch in front of the goal as the rival goalkeeper managed to pluck every aerial cross to stamp out the danger.
In the 43rd minute, Wescelau tormented his marker with a sharp turn and a quick burst of acceleration, spraying a cross into the danger area, which Pramod took one great swipe at the ball as he pierced the net.
Two minutes later, Salcete could have powered their way back into contention, but unfortunately for them, Josley’s penalty was wonderfully saved by the Sao Minguel goalkeeper.
An amazing 13 seconds after the restart, Sao Minguel managed to double their lead from the kick off as the ball was worked forward to Gautham and his tempting low shot past the goalkeeper was accidentally pushed into the goal by a backtracking Salcete defender.
Six minutes later, Salcete defender Joseph Dias hammered the ball into the roof of the net after venturing forward for a corner, but the assistant referee confidently waved the goal off-side to Salcete’s dismay.
With the second half just 16 minutes old and having seen no reward for their attacking efforts, Salcete made changes to their forward line. Selzon Rodrigues made way for Slagen Gracias and Oilex Oliveira replaced Treyson D’Costa. Salcete’s third switch came shortly after as Seriton Fernandes came in for Rony Monteiro on the right side.
The closing stages were exciting for both sets of travelling supporters. With five minutes remaining the Sao Minguel custodian did well to deny Salcete’s Francis Andrade from close range blocking with his legs.
At the other end, Sao Minguel’s Wescesleu broke away from the half way line and did all the hard work, but just could not keep his composure on approaching the goal and sliced the ball against the side-netting.
Sao Minguel winger Thomson Fernandes was the only player booked, nine minutes from time.
After Round 4, Sao Minguel lead the group with 9 points from three matches, followed by Wilred Leisure and Curtorim Gymkhana who have 7 points each from three matches. Salcete have 5 points from four games, Goa Police have 3 points from three matches, Corps of Signals have collected 3 points from four outings, while Raia Sporting are yet to open their account after four games.
