MAPUSA
Goa Police rallied from a two-goal deficit to claw back into the match towards the last quarter of the second half to snatch a point from the more fancied Corps of Signals with a 2-2 draw in the ninth round fixture of the GFA First Division League played at Duler Stadium, Mapusa, Thursday evening.
Backed by a vociferous support, Corps of Signals struck as early as in the second minute when the fallibility in the back wall of the Goa Police was exposed as the rival captain Romenjit Meetei's rasping shot bulged the nets.
Stung by the early setback, the Policemen were made to work overtime mainly in their own half as the militarymen continued with a series of raids. In the 22nd minute, Goa Police had a chance to equalise twice but failed to convert on both occasions. First Gaurav Kankonkar (U-20) and then Sachin Chopdekar missed out on gilt-edged opportunities.
As the clock ticked over the half hour mark, a well-directed, powerful free-kick by Goa Police’s Abdul Khan found the Corps’ U-20 custodian, V Vivek Gopal spectacularly effecting a save by palming the ball over the crossbar. Shortly afterwards, Corps came back strongly to double their lead when Lalramsanga sent a good cross from the right flank to Pawan Thakur, who slotted the ball home.
While the first session pre-dominantly had the Policemen playing in their own half, post resumption, the story underwent a drastic change. Goa Police went out firing on all cylinders and had more of the scoring opportunities and larger ball possession, but their finishing was found wanting. The introduction of a fresh pair of legs in the 72nd minute with Mouzzan Shaik coming on for a tiring Sachin Chopdekar brought a near immediate sting to their attack.
Five minutes from his introduction, Mouzzan converted from an intelligent cross sent by Tushar Dessai from the right flank to reduce the margin. With the Corps coach marshalling his troops from the sidelines in an effort to hold onto the lead against a transformed rampaging opposition, the Goa Police coach continued with his substitution ploy using up the other two options at hand, to inject more life and purpose to press on for the equaliser.
In the 87th minute, the same combine which brought about their first goal, almost brought another but Mouzzan missed out this time. In the last minute of regulation time, Corps had a chance to seal the issue in their favour but a cross from the left by Pawan Thakur to Lenin Mithran (U-20) was not timed to perfection for a header by the latter. Rubbing salt into the wounds of the Corps, seconds prior to the final whistle, the Policemen restored parity when Abdul Khan dished out an appetising cross to Gaurav Kankonkar who lapped it up to make it 2-2 (90+4).
Round 10 matches will be played on February 28.
