PANAJI
Sporting Clube de Goa registered their first win in the CAM Goa Professional League after defeating Velsao Sports and Cultural Club 3-1 at Duler Stadium, Mapusa, on Wednesday.
Ivon Costa (23'), Marcus Mascarenhas (70') and Lloyd Cardozo (90+7) scored for the Flaming Oranje while Meuton Fernandes (53’) scored for the Velsao team. Velsao were reduced to 10 men after their skipper Ronaldo Pereira received double bookings in the span of three minutes.
Sporting started the first half on an attacking note with Ivon Costa and Stendly Fernandes creating trouble for the Velsao defence. After constant probing and missed chances, Sporting broke the deadlock in the 23rd minute through Ivon Costa who nodded in the ball from inside the box, after an initial mix-up from the Velsao SCC team.
With that proving to be the best chance of the first half, Velsao SCC came back stronger in the second half. They raided Flaming Oranje territory and nearly managed to restore parity but Nickson Castanha brought down their player in the box. The defender was cautioned after the referee pointed towards the spot. Meuton Fernandes converted the spot kick.
Just when it looked like Velsao SCC were back in business, their skipper. Ronaldo Pereira, who bagged the player of the match award in his previous match collected two yellow cards in equal minutes to handicap his team with a man down.
Sporting’s goal machine Marcus Mascarenhas was introduced in the game in the second half and he nearly got his goal within minutes of coming on, when Danstan played a ball in his way, but the former missed the mark.
Later Velroy came with a timely clearance to deny Lloyd Cardozo who was fed by Marcus in the area. After having the numerical advantage, Sporting Clube flashed in crosses through Stendley and Velito Cruz, but they couldn't get the end result. Finally Sporting took the lead from a corner kick in the 70th minute. Marcus Mascarenhas leapt highest to nod in Velito's corner kick.
Velsao’s Velroy Carvalho played his heart out to deny Rohan on a couple of occasions in the game.
Velsao had a chance to get the equaliser when they were awarded a free kick outside the box, but Arif who managed to beat the wall with his perfectly executed shot saw his effort easily collected by the keeper.
Lloyd, after teasing with chances, finally scored a brilliant solo goal when he danced his way past a couple of Velsao defenders after receiving a through pass from Stendly. Lloyd then rounded the keeper and calmly placed the ball at the back of the net to score the teams third and earn three points.
Sporting’s Altan Vaz bagged the man of the match award.
