Team Herald
sports@herald-goa.com
MAPUSA: St. Savio’s Sports Club Calangute managed to hold Goa Velha Sports Club to a 2-2 draw in the GFA’s GENO First Division League, at Duler Stadium, here, on Friday.
After Friday’s drawn encounter Goa Velha have 4 points from seven matches while St Savio’s have 13 points from 8 matches.
St Savio’s should have taken an early sixth minute lead when they were awarded a penalty by referee Deepraj Sangelkar after Goa Velha’s Akram Yadwad brought down Calangute’s Ashok Meghen inside the penalty box, but Goa Velha keeper Soma Korgaonkar flung to his right and brought a brilliant save as he pushed the ball for a corner off Richard Cardoz’s strike.
Akash Sanadi curled his corner to the far end of the goal which saw Francis Fernandes Pawar nod the ball into the goal.
Goa Velha further extended their lead where Malcolm Mascarenhas sent a long ball on the run to Irfan Yadwad who darted inside the 18-yard box and slammed it past the Calangute keeper Selwyn D’Souza to make it 2-0.
Calangute time and again attacked the rival citadel but ultimately succeeded in the 39th minute when U-20 Aman Govekar set up Deep Govekar on the left flank who after covering some ground sent a cross at the goal which was guided into the goal by Yogendra Thapa to make it 2-1.
Goa Velha should have netted their third goal in the 43rd minute when Irfan Yadwad sent a low cross at the goal which was timely cleared by Calangute’s Yogendra Thapa for a corner.
At the other end, a minute before the breather Calangute’s Richard played a one-two with Aman who’s fierce right footer from outside the penalty box was excellently fisted over the post by keeper Soma Korgaonkar for a corner.
On resumption of play, the Calangute players mostly camped inside their opponent’s territory in search of the equaliser. In the 56th minute, a blistering shot by Aman Govekar was blocked by keeper Soma.
However, the keeper could do very little four minutes later when Nevil Rodrigues tapped the ball into the goal off a cross by Richard Cardoz 2-2.
Play turned out to be rough in the last quarter of the match, when referee Deepraj failed to check infringement in time, though some of them were cautioned.
Goa Velha keeper Soma Korgaonkar received the man-of-the-match award from the Babli Mandrekar, GFA’s executive member.
