PANAJI
Dempo Sports Club and Churchill Brothers SC played out a goalless draw in the Goa Football Association Selvel Goa Professional League at Duler Stadium, Mapusa, on Monday. Despite having plenty of chances throughout the game, neither team were really able to convert them into goals and settled for a point.
Dempo coach Samir Naik started with Antonio Dylan D'Silva in the goal with an experienced Shallum Pires in defence. The midfield, however, was devoid of experience while the frontline had Aman Govekar and young Vieri Colaco. For Churchill Brothers, Nora Fernandes started in goal while they had a strong team consisting of Keenan Alemida, Quan Gomes, Shubert Pereira and Jovel Martins. Coach Mateus Costa also handed Aaron Bareto his debut.
Quan almost gave Churchill Brothers a dream start when his side were awarded a free kick just outside the box. The midfielder's curling free-kick beat the wall and the keeper but hit the crossbar. At the other end, Edwin Viegas had the opportunity to nod in the ball from a Suraj Hadkonkar freekick, but the defender headed it over the bar from the face of the goal. However, it was flagged offside.
With opportunities missed, the end-to-end battle saw hardly any action in the box in the first 45 minutes. The second half was much more intense with both teams putting bodies forward in search of a goal.
In the 52nd minute, Dempo missed a great chance to take the lead when Aman failed to take a chance from inside the box. At the other end, Dempo keeper Dylan was there at the right place to thwart an attempt from Churchill's Vinil Poojary.
In the 70th minute, Suraj ran down the right flank and drilled a low cross to Velanco Rodrigues. However, with just the keeper at his mercy from within five yards from goal, the second-half substitute hit his shot over the bar.
In the 84th minute, Dempo nearly struck the winner when the Churchill defence afforded a lot of space for the Golden Eagles' Necio Fernandes, whose long-range shot missed the side post.
