Team Herald
sports@herald-goa.com
MAPUSA: Salgaocar Football Club were held to an entertaining 3-3 draw by Sporting Clube de Goa in the Goa Professional league organised by GFA played at Duler stadium, here, on Tuesday.
Both teams in need of a win to strengthen their league position had to split points which means Salgaocar remain in third position with 46 points after their last league match while Sporting are in the fourth spot with 41 points from 20 matches.
For Sporting coach Francisco Vaz who on his debut after taking charge from Mateus Costa collecting a point was a good start.
In an absorbing encounter which swung like a pendulum saw both the teams were on level terms (2-2) at half time with Saeesh Halarnkar and Samuel Costa scoring for Green Brigade while Stendly Fernandes and Akeraj Martins found the net for Flaming Oranje.
It was Salgoacar who went ahead in the very fifth minute through Saeesh Halarnkar who fired the ball into the net after capitalising on some sloppy defence by Sporting.
Sporting had their first attempt in the 15th minute when Stendly Fernandes’ fierce shot from just outside the box went over the crossbar.
Minutes later, Devendra Murgaonkar was unlucky to see his cross graze the post and get back into play with no Salgaocar player around to tap the ball into the net.
Salgaocar had another decent attempt to consolidate their lead when U-20 Ribhav Sardessai’s well struck shot from Chaitan Komarpant’s cross was brilliantly kept out for a corner by keeper Melroy Fernandes.
Sporting should have equalised in the 35th minute but Glan Martins with an open goal in front of him shot wide from a rebound after Stendly Fernandes’ placement was well stopped by Salgaocar keeper Jason D’Mello.
Stendly Fernandes finally managed to hit the back of the net from a free-kick in the 37th minute with the keeper beaten and it did not take long for Sporting to make it 2-1 through Akeraj Martins who pounced on a defensive error by Salgaocar in the 39th minute.
However, Salgaocar held their nerves and made it 2-2 before half-time through an absolute cracker by Samuel D’Costa which nestled into the far corner of the net with the keeper stranded.
On crossing ends, Salgaocar once again managed to take the lead through Daniel Rebello who did a commendable job upfront in the absence of Ronaldo Oliveira (double booking) who on receiving a loose ball positioned himself and beat the keeper with an adroit placement to make it 3-2.
Just when it looked that Salgaocar had wrapped up full three points Sporting scored the equaliser in the 89th minute from the penalty spot which was awarded by referee Tejas Nagvenkar after Salgaocar’s skipper Godfrey Mascarenhas handled the ball inside the penalty box. Clive Miranda who stepped forward made no mistake in beating the keeper to make it 3-3.
