the goan I network
DULER
Sporting Clube de Goa registered a 2-0 win over Salgaocar Football Club in the first semi-finals of the 15th Goa Police Cup at Duler Stadium, here on Wednesday. They will meet Churchill Brothers in the finals on Friday, after the Red Machine crushed Guardian Angel 5-1 in the second semi-finals.
Salgaocar coach Norbert Gonsalves played the same outfit, which defeated St Savio SC in the quarter-finals except for their regular goalkeeper S. Rajini Kumar, who replaced Abhijit Das under the horizontal bar.
Sporting, who had an easy outing against Velsao SCC winning 5-1 last time out, saw their coach Mateus Costa name Nigerian defender Sodik Ibrahim and Marcus Mascarenhas in the
starting XI.
The match started on an attacking note but it was Flaming Oranje who were the first to have a crack at the rival goal when Alesh Sawant sent a perfect corner to Philip Odogwu near the first post, but the Nigerian striker failed to keep his header on target. Just three minutes later, the Green Brigade also had a chance to open their account when U-20 striker Devendra Murgaonkar sent a short pass to Umesh Harijan in the box, but the midfielder shot wide
from 10 yards.
At the other end, Sporting had a glorious chance in the 20th minute when Salgaocar midfielder Umesh sent an erroneous back pass to Sporting striker Philip, who made a darting run from the halfway line but shot wide with just the goalkeeper to beat from inside the box.
A few minutes later, Salgaocar once again came close to scoring when skipper Rosario Mendes’ long throw-in was assisted to Umesh in the goalmouth by Nigerian forward Joel Sunday, but the latter’s shot was brilliantly blocked by Sporting goalkeeper Melroy Fernandes.
In the last five minutes before the breather, Sporting finally surged ahead in the 40th minute when Marcus Mascarenhas after receiving a low cross from Glan Martins, tapped the ball home. Five minutes later, Nigerian Striker Philip Odogwu further extended their lead as he superbly headed in off Cajetan Fernandes’ fine corner to make it 2-0 for Sporting.
In the very 2nd minute on crossing ends, Alesh was unlucky not to add his name to the scorers’ list as his powerful shot from the distance banged onto the horizontal bar. Sporting should have further inflated their lead, but the aimless shots from Cajetan, Girish Naik and Philip failed to increase the scoreline.
At the other end, Salgaocar coach Norbert brought off a double substitution, bringing in Clencio Pinto and Agnelo Colaco but Sporting defence lead by Sodik, Joseph Clemente alongwith George D’Souza and Myron Fernandes, failed to buckle under pressure.
In the second semi-finals played under the floodlights, Churchill Bros proved too good for Guardian Angel Sports Club with an emphatic 5-1 victory. Both teams played earnestly in the first 25 minutes of the match, where both had a scoring chance each.
Churchill goalkeeper James Kithan thwarted Angel’s Perryson Rebello in an one-to-one situation; while at the other end, Perryson came to his team’s rescue by blocking on the goal-line a strike from Richard Costa.
The Red Machine took the lead in the 27th minute as striker Nigerian Francis Okechuku sent a low cross into the danger area where Alber Gonsalves coolly tapped the ball into the back of the nets. Just four minutes later, the Angels levelled the terms when a long throw-in by Alson Fernandes was toed into the goal by Aslon Oliveira.
In the 38th minute, Francis came up with another assist as he flashed the ball inside the goal area where Uttam Rai tapped the ball home for 2-1 lead to Churchill. On crossing the ends, the Red Machine pumped in two quick goals in the 53rd and 60th minutes. Francis Okechuku drilled a stiff grounder at the far corner, while Alber Gonsalves netted his second and the team’s fourth goal. In the 69th minute, Rohan Adnaik hammered in the fifth goal with a neat placement (5-1). Alber Gonsalves of Churchill Brothers was named Man-of-the match.
