DULER
Nigerian Abiola Afuwape netted a brace as Sporting Clube de Goa proved too good for Panjim Footballers as they won 4-1 in the 14th round match of the Goa Professional League organised by GFA at Duler stadium, on Saturday.
Sporting had won their first leg against Panjim Footballers by an identical margin. After Saturday’s win, Sporting continued to retain their top spot with 30 points from 12 matches, while Panjim Footballers stay on 10 points from
nine matches.
Panjim Footballers in their last league match had defeated Guardian Angel while Sporting Clube de Goa had managed to scrape past Salgaocar FC. Both the teams started on a positive note but it was Sporting who ultimately held the upper hand and struck two goals each in either session of play through Nigerian Abiola Afuwape (2), Victorino Fernandes and Cajetan Fernandes, while Panjim side managed to pull a consolation goal through
Akeraj Martins.
Flaming Oranje made their intention clear as they struck the opening goal in the very 4th minute when a curling corner by Cajetan Fernandes saw Abiola Afuwape head the ball into the goal between the keeper and defender, 1-0. Just six minutes later, Sporting almost doubled their lead, but a free kick by Cajetan Fernandes from outside the penalty box struck the
horizontal bar.
However Flaming Oranje did not have to wait for long to double their lead as Cajetan Fernandes sent a through pass to Ganesh Thakur, who moved a few steps ahead and sent a low cross to a well positioned Victorino, who made no mistake in guiding the ball past Panjim keeper Gurpreet Singh, 2-0.
It was some heroic display from Pajim custodian Gurpreet who came with two breathtaking one-to-one saves in the 23rd and 32nd minutes to deny Victorino from scoring the fastest hat-trick of the league. In the entire first session, the Panjim side had just one good attempt at the rival goal when in the 30th minute a strike from close by Clifton Fernandes hit the crossbar.
On crossing ends, Sporting continued their domination when, in the 52nd minute, Abiola receiving a pass from Cajetan on the left flank scored with a chip shot to beat keeper Gurpreet for the third goal, 3-0. Once again keeper Gurpreet came to his team’s rescue as he flung to his left to block Abiola’s
goal-bound shot.
Down by three goals but determined to score, Panjim Footballers came close when a stiff grounder by defender Clive Miranda off a corner was smartly blocked by Sporting keeper Melroy Fernandes. Panjim finally tasted success in the 78th minute as Akeraj Martins got hold of the ball inside the penalty box and drilled it past the defenders and keeper to make it 3-1.
Panjim Footballers celebration was for a short time as Panjim defender Schubert D’Costa handled the ball inside the penalty box, prompting referee Deepraj Sangelkar to point to the spot, with a strong protest from the players being turned down. Cajetan made no mistake in slamming the ball into the
net, 4-1.
