the goan I network
DULER
Two second half goals by Benston Barretto and Nevil Soares enabled Vasco Sports Club to register a 2-0 win over Panjim Footballers in the Goa Professional League, in a match played at Duler stadium here on Sunday.
The Port Towners maintained their winning streak as they won their third match on a trot. After this win, Vasco climbed to the 6th position with 20 points from 16 matches, while Panjim have 11 points from 16 outings. In the first leg meeting between the sides, Vasco had registered an easy 2-0 win over the capital city side.
Vasco in-charge Micky Fernandes made just one change as he fielded Neville Albuquerque by replacing Sanwil D’Costa in the starting XI, whereas Panjim coach Francisco brought two changes as he fielded Delton Colaco and Joel Colaco in the starting XI.
The Port Towners had better of the ball possession in the first quarter of the match and should have struck in the 14th minute when Moises D’Sa set up U-20 player Aman Govekar with just Panjim keeper Sherwin Da Cunha at his mercy, but the striker failed to keep the ball on target. The Panjim colts did shine in patches but their strikers’ shots from distance did not have much direction.
In the 25th minute, the Vasco colts went close again when Anil Gaonkar sent a through pass to midfielder Penn Orji in the box and the Nigerian tried to find Aman with a square pass, but before the latter could create any damage, Panjim defender Kunal Kankonkar made a timely clearance. In a counter attack Panjim midfielder Vallmiky Miranda sent an intelligent through pass to Mahesh Kumar in the box but Vasco keeper Sanju Thapa came off the line and collected the ball.
The Port Towners’ best chance came in the 34th minute when Beneston Barretto, who had come from the bench replacing Nigerian striker Henry Ezeh, drilled a shot at the goal which was brilliantly blocked by Panjim custodian Sherwin.
On resumption of play in the very next minute, Panjim colt Delton’s strike at the goal from the top of the box was confidently collected by Vasco custodian Thapa. In the 53rd minute, Panjim suffered a jolt when they were reduced to 10 men with the sending-off of defender Joel for deliberately handling the ball.
The task for the Port Towners became easy with a one-man advantage and they opened their tally within next four minutes as Penn found Beneston with a through pass in the box, and the latter dribbled past two defenders and drilled a low shot at the far post to make it 1-0.
As the match progressed, Vasco had two more chances to inflate their lead but Penn and minutes later, Anil failed to score from close. However, the Vasco colts continued to have the upper hand and they finally managed to extend their lead when Moises’ powerful shot from close was brilliantly blocked by Panjim custodian Sherwin but the ball rolled to substitute forward Nevil Soares, who made it 2-0.
Just five minutes later, Soares lost a glorious chance to net his brace as he had just the Panjim keeper to beat but the forward shot in the waiting hands of Sherwin. In the closing stages of the match, Beneston too had two chances to increase the tally but his curling shot missed the target narrowly and a couple of minutes later, another shot was pushed for a corner by Panjim keeper Sherwin.
