AGENCIES
KOLKATA
Salgaocar FC lost the semi-final of U-18 I-League 2015-2016 against Tata Football Academy, at the Howrah Stadium, on Sunday. The Tata boys came out on top, thanks to a fine brace from skipper Shaikhom Ronald Singh. They set up a summit clash against holders AIFF Academy on February 10.
Tata Football Academy kicked off the proceedings and seized early control as midfielder Billu Teli and Abhishek Nair dictated the game. TFA made early advancements down the left flank via left winger Vishal Das. Seineo Kuki and Ronald Singh combined well for the Tata outfit to cause some trouble with their pace but Salgaocar FC centre back Daniel Gomes thwarted them on five different occasions.
At the half-an-hour hour mark, Liston blazed a long range free kick as the Goan side had lion’s share of the ball. At half-time, both the teams were on same balance although they could have found the opening goal on quite a few occasions.
It was a mistake from Sanson that allowed TFA captain Ronald Singh to poke his team ahead in the 47th minute. The goal did not affect Salgaocar much as they kept holding the ball well as Denil Rebello and Kaushik Negi fed the forwards Aldrich Coelho and Liston Fernandes.
Liston Fernandez had a great chance to restore the parity when he got a set piece right on the edge on the penalty. The resulting free kick went over the bar though to be fair to TFA custodian, Rafiq Ali Sardar had it well covered. Salgaocar FC left a few spaces at the back which was brilliantly utilised by Ronald Singh who went on a scintillating run down the right and fired home his second of the afternoon at the near post to double their lead.
There was a heart stopping moment when VIjay Kumar from TFA and Aldrich from Salgaocar FC had a nasty clash of heads in the middle of the park. Vijay received two stitches on the back of his head and came out at the end of the game to greet his team-mates.
After the end of the game, Lee Walshaw, the head coach of TFA sounded optimistic about building a team for the future. “We are not looking to win. We are looking to build a team for the future. The boys are playing for each other. We want all of them to grow up and be successful in future. As I said, it is a continuous process and if we manage to win a trophy or two it will be the icing on the cake,” Walshaw said.
Salgaocar FC will now face Aizawl FC, who lost to AIFF Academy in the first semi-final, for the third place play-off on Tuesday at Howrah Stadium. AIFF Academy will go up against Tata Football Academy in the final a day later.
