PANAJI
Dempo SC and Bengaluru FC registered wins in the opening round of AIFF's Rest of India Zone-1 U-16 Y-League at Duler Stadium, Mapusa on Saturday.
Dempo U-16s edged Sporting colts 1-0 in a closely fought encounter with Norman Dias (83’) scoring the winner. In the other match, Bengaluru beat the Greens 4-1.
The Dempo lads kicked off the proceedings and created some early pressure. Soon the young Oranje lads did the catching up and increased the tempo with some good possession football. It took 23 minutes for either sides to fire their first shot on goal as Aaron Alvares of Dempo got hold of a loose ball in the middle and whacked it on half volley but Sporting custodian Akshat Hadkonkar pulled off a good save.
For Sporting, Stendly Fernandes displayed some good dribbling skills when he got past two defenders to send in a fantastic cross into the Dempo box but none of the Oranje shirts could intercept the ball which was finally cleared by the Dempo defence.
The second half saw Sporting shift gears from the start, forwards Stendly combining well with Alister Anthony and Sahil Halarnkar to create some promising moves. Second half substitute Oscar D’Souza should have scored after receiving a brilliant through ball from Alister but he placed it wide of the net.
The Sporting lads paid the price for missing out on numerous opportunities when Dempo skipper Boris De Melo led a counter attack to find Norman dashing in from the right flank. The latter managed to sneak the ball in from a narrow angle beating Oranje custodian Akshat.
Meanwhile, a first half brace from Lalrinzuala Lalbiaknia and goals from Vijay Thangavelu and Rahul Rajan gave Bengaluru U-16 Academy side a winning start in their campaign. The Blue colts attacked from the start with Nonganba Singh and Rahul operating down the flanks. An early cross from Singh was too high for Lalrinzuala but a deft touch and cross from Rahul allowed the 16-year-old striker to drive home the opener.
Rahul made it two assists after he dribbled past three defenders before cutting it across for Vijay to tap home from close in the ninth minute. Salgaocar managed to pull one back through Levi Pereira moments later but a decisive through ball from Vijay allowed Lalrinzuala to attack and finish past the Salgaocar keeper into the bottom corner to grab his second and make it 3-1 at the break.
A second half finish from Rahul put matters to bed as Bengaluru claimed an easy victory.
John Kila’s Blue colts next face Sporting Clube, while Dempo take on arch-rivals Salgaocar at the same venue on Monday.
RESULTS
Dempo SC 1 (Norman Dias 83’) Sporting Clube de Goa 0
Salgaocar FC 1 (Levi Pereira 10’) Bengaluru FC U16s 4 (Lalrinzuala 3’ 26’, Vijay 9’, Rahul 55’)
