MARGAO
Maina Sports Club secured a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Ambelim Sports Club in the UCT Trophy 9-a-side inter-village football tournament, organised by UC Telaulim, and played at the Government School Ground, Telaulim, on Monday.
Both teams played an attacking brand of football, hungry for goals, but struggled to break the deadlock in the first half. In the 10th minute, Anslem Fernandes of Maina was expertly fed by Jovial Martins. He raced forward and took a shot from the edge of the box, but his effort struck the crossbar and went out of play. Ambelim quickly countered, with their goalkeeper launching a long ball that was controlled by Velroy Fernandes, who then passed diagonally to Arvind Fernandes. However, his shot was punched away by Maina goalkeeper Prakash Joshi, and the score remained 0-0 at halftime.
After the break, Ambelim had a golden opportunity to take the lead. A misjudged clearance from Maina’s defense allowed Asfin to get a one-on-one chance with the goalkeeper. Arvind of Ambelim controlled the ball but saw his shot brilliantly saved by Maina goalkeeper Prashant, who denied them the opening goal.
Maina then capitalised on a strong move involving Crizenal and Anslem, with the ball being fed to an unmarked Milagres Fernandes. Milagres calmly placed the ball into the net in the 45th minute, beating the goalkeeper to give Maina the lead.
Ambelim squandered several chances to equalise, failing to find the target. In the dying moments of the match, they had another opportunity when Asfin’s cross from the right wing found Arvind, whose powerful shot was cleared off the line by Maina defender Manuel Castanha. Referee Rohan Pereira then blew the final whistle, confirming Maina’s 1-0 victory.
Milagres Fernandes of Maina Sports Club was named the Man of the Match, with Renald Fernandes presenting him with the award.
