TEAM HERALD
sports@herald-goa.com
MAPUSA: Vagator Parish Youth Sports Club thumped Milagres Sports Club, Mapusa 4-2 in a GFA Second Division league match (Bardez Zone) at Sangolda ground, Friday. The score was 2-2 at half time.
Vagator got off to a dream start as they surged ahead in the sixth minute through Rayan D’Souza, who controlled a perfect cross from Russel Fernandes and slotted past rival goalkeeper Rowell Pinto.
Stung by the setback, Milagres regrouped quickly and went in search of the equalizer. They almost restored parity but Joaquim Pacheco’s dangerous ball to Krishna was parried away by Vagator goalkeeper Soma Korgaokar in the eighth minute.
Five minutes later, Milagres’ Camiro D’Souza essayed a long ball to Krishna, who timed his run to perfection and shot past Rowell for the equalizer.
In the 16th minute, Milagres gave away a needless free-kick at the edge of the box after Mufiaz Sheikh brought down Russel. In the resultant free-kick, Milagres’ Shailesh Miskin netted in an own-goal in an attempt to clear Russel’s shot.
At the other end, Milagres’ Atish Mirazkar sneaked through the rival defenders and slotted past Soma with an adroit placement to make it 2-2 in the 37th minute.
After resumption, Vagator had the first opportunity to score but Rayan failed to tap in from hand-shaking distance off a low cross from Valson in the 51st minute.
Thereafter, Milagres had their share of chances but Atish muffed two golden opportunities from close range in the 52nd and 58th minutes after Joaquim had done the spade work.
In the 79th minute, Rayan was denied a goal when he was flagged off-side by assistant referee Ashok.
Vagator dominated the proceedings in the last quarter as they netted two quick goals through Rayan in the 81st and 82nd minutes, Rupesh Kotkar being the provider in both occasions.
With this win, Vagator have collected six points from four matches while Milagres are also on six points from the same number of matches.
Meanwhile, at Dr Remigio Pinto ground, Taleigao, St Sebastian Sports Club, St Cruz played a goalless draw with Bhagwati Sports Club.
Our Margao correspondent adds — Raia Sporting Club registered a fluent 3-0 win over Carmona Sports Club in the Salcete Zone GFA Second Division league at Curtorim ground, Friday. Raia led 1-0 at the break.
The game came alive when Raia took the lead in the 23rd minute when striker Jenifer Clemente bulged the net off a pass from Wilfred Gomes.
After tasting success, Raia had a couple of excellent chances to inflate their tally but their forwards squandered from ideal positions.
For Raia, Wilfred Gomes and Olivitio Dias were excellent in providing accurate passes to their forwards.
Carmona failed to function as a cohesive unit as their forwards lacked bite and hardly tested the rival goalkeeper.
Post resumption, Raia led by Wilfred continued to harass the rival defenders regularly. Midfielder Vishnu Singh doubled the lead in the 67th minute when he slotted past the rival goalkeeper with a snap shot off a well executed through pass from Navin Pereira.
With a two-goal advantage, Raia seemed to have the match in their pocket. Carmona did not pile on the pressure needed to make a comeback into the game. Raia had a couple of chances to increase their tally but Wilfred and Naven muffed sitters from close.
With time running out, Wilfred drove the last nail into the rival coffin when his shot deflected off Yuri Ferrao’s leg and eluded Carmona goalkeeper Johnson Bhagat.
With this win, Raia collected 12 points from five matches while Carmona have five points from the same number of encounters.
Meanwhile, Savio Gomes president of Raia Sporting Club expressed dissatisfaction over the condition of the Curtorim ground. “Some parts of the ground have holes and it is very difficult for the players to play free flowing football,” he said. He also lamented that there were no dressing rooms and that the players underwent great difficulty while changing.
