Sporting Clube de Goa’s Naocha Singh celebrates scoring his first hat-trick of the season in a 7-0 victory over Bidesh XI SC at the Duler Stadium on Thursday.
SCOREBOX
Guardian Angel SC 1 (Fulganco Cardozo 48′) lost to Goa Police SC 2 (Mayuresh Naik 41′, Deepak Naik 90+3')
Sporting Clube de Goa 7 (Lamjingba Nongthombam (OG) 23′, Ngangbam Naocha Singh 51′, 63′, 79′; Samuel Gregorio Costa 55′; Joyson Regan Gauncar 64′; Ivon Costa 90’+3) beat Bidesh XI SC 0
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PANAJI
Goa Police SC secured a crucial 2-1 victory over Guardian Angel SC with a stoppage-time strike in a tense Goa Professional League encounter on Thursday.
The Police side showed early intent and tested the Guardian Angel defence within the opening quarter but the hosts’ goalkeeper remained alert to deny an early breakthrough. Mayuresh Naik continued to trouble the backline and went close again midway through the half though his effort lacked precision.
The breakthrough arrived in the 41st minute when Anant Gad threaded a well-weighted pass to Mayuresh Naik, who finished clinically to give Goa Police a deserved lead at the interval. Guardian Angel responded strongly after the restart. Pratamesh Gaonkar came close with a rising effort that cleared the crossbar before the equaliser followed moments later. An initial strike was blocked by goalkeeper Saiesh Kunkolkar but Fulganco Cardozo reacted quickest to convert the rebound and bring the game level.
The contest settled into a tense phase with both sides pushing cautiously for a winner. Goa Police maintained their structure while Guardian Angel looked to exploit spaces on the counter. The decisive moment came deep into stoppage time. Mayuresh Naik once again played a key role releasing Deepak Naik behind the defence. The forward kept his composure rounded his marker, and finished past the goalkeeper to seal the points. He was later booked amid heightened emotions, but the goal proved decisive. Goa Police saw out the remaining moments to register a hard-earned win while Guardian Angel were left to rue a late lapse after mounting a spirited second-half fightback.
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Duler goal fest
Sporting Clube de Goa delivered a ruthless second-half performance to overwhelm Bidesh XI Sports Club 7-0 in a one-sided clash at the Duler Stadium.
From the opening whistle, Sporting asserted control, dominating possession and dictating play through midfield as Bidesh were forced into a deep defensive block. An unusual interruption briefly stalled momentum in the 15th minute when a swarm of bees hovered near the Bidesh penalty area, prompting a short stoppage before play resumed.
The breakthrough came from a set piece. Samuel Costa’s corner from the left created panic in the box, and under pressure, Bidesh defender Lamjingba Nongthombam turned the ball into his own net to hand Sporting a deserved lead. Bidesh attempted to respond when Lamjingba was fouled on the edge of the area but Fredsan Marshall’s free-kick failed to trouble the Sporting goalkeeper. The pressure quickly swung back the other way with Aaron Barreto denied from close range after Kunal Kundaikar’s low delivery.
Any hopes of a contest were effectively ended before the interval when Desmon Pereira was shown a straight red card for kicking Aaron Barreto off the ball, leaving Bidesh reduced to ten men at halftime. Sporting were relentless after the restart. Niraj Parekh’s measured cross found Naocha Singh at the far post and the forward made no mistake with a well-timed header to double the lead. Moments later, Samuel Costa struck from the edge of the box, his effort taking a slight deflection on its way past the goalkeeper.
Naocha Singh then took centre stage. He latched onto Ivon Costa’s chipped pass to finish clinically before adding another with a powerful header from Letzamang Haokip’s long ball, completing a commanding hat-trick. The goals kept coming. Ivon Costa slipped Joyson Gauncar through for a composed first-time finish and in the closing minutes, the roles were reversed as Joyson Coutinho set up Ivon Costa to cap a dominant display. Sporting Clube saw out the match with ease, closing the contest at 7-0 in a performance that underlined their attacking depth and control while Bidesh XI were left to endure a difficult evening against a side operating at full throttle.
