the goan I network
DULER
A 10-man Panjim Footballers Sports Club huffed and puffed before they finally managed to hold FC Bardez to a goalless draw in a Goa Professional League match played at Duler Stadium, here on Friday.
After the drawn encounter, Bardez moved to the 8th place with five points from eight matches, while Panjim remained at 10th position with just four points from six outings. Coming into the crucial encounter, Panjim Footballers had suffered a massive defeat at the hands of Velsao SCC, while on the other hand, Bardez had secured a victory against Calangute Association.
The first quarter of the match was restricted to midfield play but as the match progressed, Panjim’s Clifton Fernandes and Jaison Fernandes made some deep moves and their goal-bound shots were saved by Bardez keeper Royal Basumatory. In the 39th minute, Panjim winger Daryl Costa sent a perfect cross to Snedden Rodrigues in the box but the striker failed to keep his header on target.
In the entire first session, the Bardez colts had just one good attempt at the rival goal when their skipper Cho Lepcha was left with just the keeper at his mercy, but the striker’s weak shot from distance was comfortably collected by Panjim keeper Sherwin da Cunha. On crossing ends, Panjim midfielder Daryl was perfectly set up by Akram Yadwad with a long cross but the winger made a mess as he failed to connect an open header from close and Bardez keeper Royal made an easy collection.
As the match progressed, the teams failed to keep their cool and played a more physical game, which resulted in referee Shaikh Aboo flashing yellow cards to Bardez’s Babun Das, Sanjay Vengurlekar and Carl D’Souza, while Panjim’s Prasil Kunkolakr and Joel Colaco were also booked.
With the tempers rising, the referee reduced the Panjim colts to 10 men in the 58th minute when defender Prasil was booked for the second time in the match for a reckless tackle on Bardez midfielder Rungsing Muinao. Howewer, surprisingly the Panjim colts held the upper hand in spite of being a man down. In a dangerous move, Panjim skipper Snedden, after dribbling past two Bardez defenders, drilled a goalbound shot from close which was blocked by Bardez defender Sonam Bhutia.
In the closing stages of the match, Daryl failed to score with his header from a perfect cross by Alston Camotio as the winger saw his header travel into the waiting gloves of Bardez custodian Royal.
