MARGAO
Goa rode on substitute striker Necio Maristo Fernandes' brace from behind to march into the final of 77th National Football championship for Santosh trophy, at the Golden Jubilee Stadium Yupia in Arunachal Pradesh, on Thursday, in a grueling encounter of 120 minutes.
The semifinal clash delighted a large number of fans. In what was a keen battle and much as expected, Goa looked to attack from the word go but were kept in check by Manipur.
Goa were aggressive in the initial period and striker Lloyd Cardozo was the culprit as he failed to beat the Manipur goalkeeper Fayeez Sayeed. Goa’s Lloyd and Manipur’s Sanathoi Meetei had chances but both sent their efforts wide. Sanathoi had another close shave a few minutes later when he was played behind the Goa defence, he had just the keeper to beat and tried to chip him, missing the target by no more than a foot.
Manipur slowly began to grow in the game, employing a three-man high press. Goa who had implemented a smooth passing game so far in the tournament, found it difficult to beat the press and seemed shell shocked.
A cross from the right saw Manipur break the deadlock in the 17th minute. Nganabam Pancha Singh's 25-yard volley grazed the horizontal bar and entered the goal as the Goan keeper Dylan Da Silva was partly to be blamed as he was in advance and miss the flight. Referee Jehrul Islam took a moment to confer with his assistant before awarding the goal.
The complexion of the game completely changed after the change of ends. However, Goa came out looking for a way back. Manipur were happy to sit back and hit on the counter, though they were not as successful at the latter.
Goa finally got the equaliser deep into injury time. From a melee inside the box, Necio Maristo Fernandes produced a moment of brilliance, as he acrobatically back-volleyed it into the goal from inside the box, sending the game into extra time.
Manipur came back strongly in extra time, while Goa, looked to hit on the counter. It was deep in the second half of extra time, with only four minutes left on the clock, that Necio Fernandes struck again. With much less elegance when compared to the first goal, but a goal that did the job for his side nonetheless. He ran on to a low centre from the right and attempted to score, but it was saved by Manipur keeper Siddharth Rana. However, Necio ran onto the rebound and poked it in from two yards, evoking fist bumps from his coach.
A flurry of red cards ensued as tempers flared at the end of the match. Manipur head coach Thangjam Saran Singh and a team staff member were shown the red card just after Goa's second goal, while substitute Sushilkumar Singh was sent off in the sixth minute of injury time in extra time. Goa waistline outsmart Manipur and defence led by Mohammed Ali and Joseph Clemente were stubborn at the back.
“It’s a perfect evening for us. It was a big game,” said Goa head coach Charles Dias after the victory We were 1-0 down in the first half. It’s obviously a big moment in our us It was a top performance," he added.
“Of course we know we have to improve, but nights like this can really change the season. I’m really proud of the boys and we just have to keep this momentum going. We knew right away that we couldn’t go to sleep. If they had opened the scoring, they would have pushed on with their fans’ backing,” explained Dias.
“We had to dampen their hopes early on. That’s what we did, and we’re very happy to be back in the finals.”
Dias said that GFA president Dr Caitano Fernandes announced a bonus cash prize of Rs 3 lakhs. Dias described the GFA president as a passionate football lover who motivates the team and boost the morale of the team. "Dr Fernandes came from Goa to cheer from the stadium stands," the coach added.
FINAL RESULT: Manipur 1 (Ngangbam Pacha Singh 18’) lost to Goa 2 (Necio Maristo Fernandes 90+6’, 116’)
