Verna team secures third straight win to go on top of Pool A
PANAJI
Fr Agnel Multipurpose Higher Secondary School Verna booked their place in the knockout stages of the 64th Subroto Cup International Football with a league match still in hand following a hard-fought 2-1 comeback win against PM Sri BTM High School, Malkera, Dhanbad, Jharkhand, on Friday.
Playing at the Indian Airforce Tejas football ground in New Delhi, Fr. Agnel were stunned by the school from Jharkhand taking the early lead with their very first attempt on goal. But, guided by coaches Alex Ambrose and Luis Barreto along with Physical Education teacher Frazer Fernandes, Fr. Agnel HSS students regrouped well and managed a win in the end to qualify for the quarter-finals.
Still recovering from a bout of food poisoning to at least eight of their key players, Fr. Agnel HSS will play their last inconsequential Pool A match against Arunachal Pradesh, on Saturday.
In Friday’s match, Fr. Agnel HSS was in attack mode from the start, missing at least three easy scoring opportunities in the first ten minutes itself.
But, it was the Jharkhand school taking the lead in the 14th minute with left winger Sujal Kumar finding the back of the nets off their very first attack on the Goan school goal with a swift long-range effort.
Stung by this, Fr. Agnel HSS stepped up to the challenge and it was the reliable Declan Monteiro who was in the right place at the right time to blast in from close in the 20th minute and restore parity.
Fr. Agnel HSS had to wait till the 31st minute for the second goal as Jayden Pinto converted a free kick from outside the penalty area and hand the Goan school the lead for the first time.
In the second half, the team from Jharkhand went all out for the equalizer, only to see the Fr. Agnel HSS defence of Elrich D’Silva, Snedden Vaz, Alvito Pereira and Alan Miranda stand tall and deny their opponents till the end.
Their third successive win in as many matches now gives Fr. Agnel HSS the top position with nine points in Pool A, and Saturday’s result against the team from Arunachal Pradesh will have no bearing on the final standings.
The four quarter-finals will be played on Monday. “The focus now is to see how best we can try out our bench strength so that our key players get a reprieve,” noted Fr. Agnelo Gomes, Director of Fr. Agnel Multipurpose HSS, Verna.
“Two days of rest will be vital for our players, and we hope we can give ourselves a good chance to performing to our potential in the knock-out stages of this tournament,” he added.
