BLURB
Reduced to 10 men in the very 2nd minute, it was an uphill battle for Sporting Clube who were up against a marauding Churchill Bros outfit
Alfred Fernandes, coach of Churchill Bros
QUOTE
"Our boys played really well and to win by 3-0 in the first game of the season was truly commendable. There was good coordination and teamwork today and hence the conversion was better,"
MATCHBOX
THE GOAN NETWORK
MAPUSA
Churchill Brothers Sports Club scored a 3-0 victory over ten-man Sporting Clube de Goa in the concluding match of Round 1 of Goa Professional League at Duler Stadium, here, on Thursday. Churchill Brothers led 2-0 at half time.
The Panaji-based Sporting were expected to get off to a blazing start but were found to be at the receiving end, after defender Franzil Negrado was red-carded in the very second minute by referee Parmanand Mandrekar.
It was a dangerous cross by Churchill Bros’ Seriton from the midfield to the danger zone which found striker Nicholas Fernandes.However, Churchill Bros skipper was brought down by Franzil in dramatic circumstances.
Of the resultant penalty, Kamaldeep Singh stepped up and powerfully shot past rival custodian Kamaljit Singh for the opener (1-0). In the eighth minute, Sporting Clube made a tactical change to strengthen their defence as striker Sumeet Passi made way for Clemete Joseph. Two minutes later, it was Kamaldeep’s turn to receive a yellow card for a reckless tackle on a rival player.
Just when Sporting Clube thought they could regroup, Pankaj Sona shattered their hopes by converting a spectacular flag-kick. Pankaj sent in an in-swinging corner and the rival defence as well as the keeper were taken by surprise with his sharp skills.
The Flaming Oranje did not give up and worked tirelessly. Their best chance to score came in the 36th minute but Jovel Martins and Marcus Marcarenhas’ back-to-back efforts were blocked by the rival goalkeeper.
Post resumption, Sporting Clube made a double substitution in the 55th minute by pulling out Mauvin Borges and Marcus Mascarenhas and introducing Alber Gonsalves and Ndidi Chukwuma respectively.
Sporting Clube were confronted with tough luck as Cajetan Fernandes’ rasping right-footer hit the upright and off the rebound, Souvik Das’ goal-bound shot was blocked by Kamaldeep.
It was all over for Sporting Clube in the 78th minute when Nicholas sent a long cross and Seriton did well to break the off-side trap to round off the rival custodian, 3-0.
SCOREBOX
Churchill Bros 3 (Kamaldeep Singh 3; Pankaj Sona 12; Seriton Fernandes 78) beat Sporting Clube de Goa 0
Half time: 2-0
Kick-off: 4 pm
SUBSTITUTIONS
Sporting Clube
Clemente Joseph (in) / Sumeet Passi (out)
Alber Gonsalves (in)/ Mauvin Borges (out)
Ndidi Chukwuma (in) / Marcus Mascarenhas (out)
Churchill Bros
Ashwin Godinho (in) / Leander D’Cunha (out)
Yendrenbam Metei (in)/ Samson Fernandes (out)
Sagar Limbo (in) / Seriton Fernandes (out)
Sporting Clube de Goa - Churchill Brothers Sports Club
3 Shot on goals 6
3 Corners 4
2 Fouls 4
1 Yellow cards 2
1 Red card 0
4 Free kicks 2
