MARGAO
There was an early chance for the home side when their captain Lloyd Cardozo ran clear of the defence and tried a left-footed strike which hit the post and went out. Raia kept attacking and had early chances through winger Danny Fernandes and Dolrich Simoes who both tested the St Sebastian defence. Danny created a chance for his side when he knocked down the ball from a corner into the path of captain Lloyd who couldn't put his head to the ball from six yards out.
Raia broke the deadlock in the 23rd minute as Danny nodded home off Dolrich, who stretched himself to reach the ball and take a shot on goal. Dolrich nearly struck just five minutes later. The Raia Sporting Club attacker raised the tempo and tried an angled shot which hit the far post and went out.
St Sebastian who were on the back foot did create chances of their own. One notable opportunity came the way of St Sebastian when they attacked against the run of play as their forward Christopher Borges raced towards the goal and tried to loop the ball over the goalkeeper only for the Raia custodian to claw it away.
It was a high tempo game where both the teams didn't hold back. But Raia held a slight edge thanks to their better ball retention and incisive passing. They managed to carve open the St Sebastian a second time in the 40th minute. Dolrich who was lurking just outside the box picked up a pass before taking a touch and smashing an outswinging shot into the net.
Crossing over, St Sebastian slowly clawed their way back and troubled the rival defence with sporadic raids. Christopher Borges had an open goal in front of him and two rival defender tried to thwart Borges who punted the ball to the far corner of the net. The second goal was a brilliant attacking move that saw defender Stanly Dias kick the ball into the flank which was chased down by Rayan Dias who crossed it to the path of Christopher who slammed a thumping header into the net to tie the match at 2-2.
However, Raia showed quality in their ranks as they scored three goals to take the game away from St Sebastian. A Sheehan Fernandes strike and a brace from substitute Delan Gomes was followed up by goals from Ubaldo Fernandes and Vaibhav Naik as Raia romped home for a thumping victory.
