margao
Bardez Veterans rallied from behind to beat Ponda Veterans 6-4 via tiebreaker to to enter the semi-finals of the 17th V M Salgaocar Memorial Veterans Soccer tournament at St John the Baptist ground, Benaulim on Saturday.
Ponda made a dream start and surged ahead in the second minute itself when striker Benedito Fernndes took a Pratap Sawant pass to strike a right-footer past a bewildered Jude Fernandes in the Bardez goal. It was a reality check for the star-studded Bardez outfit as they came out from their slumber and dominated the proceedings thereafter with Alexander Fernandes and Bruno Coutinho leading their attacks.
Bardez, despite having more ball possession, had to wait till the 47th minute when former India captain Bruno Coutinho picked out Augustinho Rodrigues on the edge of the box and the former Salgaocar striker turned past Ponda Central defender Nelson Landez and shot past rival goalkeeper John Fernandes.With the match entering the dying minutes, Ponda Veterans equalised when medio Uday Naik unleashed a powerful drive from top of the box to take the match into the tie-breaker. In the shootout, Bardez Veterans were successful through Narendra Gad, Lino Pereira, Lawrence Quadros and Bruno Coutinho while Govind Balekar and Uday Naik netted for Ponda Veterans.
Earlier chief guest Inacio Noronha, sports reporter of O Heraldo, was introduced to the teams by Francisco
Monteiro.
