DULER
Youth Club of Manora won an eight-goal thriller defeating Guardian Angel Sports Club 5-3 in the Goa Professional League at Duler Stadium, Mapusa, on Wednesday.
As the Goa Football Association (GFA) celebrated its 62nd anniversary on December 22, the match turned out to be a cracker of a contest as eight goals were scored in the 90 minutes, Manora netting five to claim the three points. A quadruple from Md Farid scored four (9th, 21st, 37th & 70th minute) and Vijay Rathod came off the bench to register his name on the scoresheet for Manora. For Guardian Angel, Yunal Fernandes, Joaquim Abarnches and Peter Carvalho found the net.
In the ninth minute, Manora broke the deadlock when Posenjit’s corner was met by Qais Khan, who tapped in from close but his shot was saved by the keeper. However the ball rolled to Farid who slotted home. Manora scored their second in the 21st minute when Rajinder’s freekick was poorly handled by the rival keeper and Farid was quick to score the second.
In the 37th minute, Eldon dispossessed Nicholas Rodrigues and set up Farid for his third, and the latter completed his treble. At the other end, the Curchorem side had a chance to reduce the deficit when they were awarded a penalty but Gilbert saw his attempt being saved by Manora keeper Md Tarique.
Guardian Angel put up an improvised performance in the second session. Rosario Mendes made an attempt to get a strike but saw it being denied by the rival keeper. Rosario missed another sitter before Yunal also failed to put his side back into the game.
In the 55th minute, Yunal finally scored for Guardian Angel and it came from Sahil’s assist, who flicked Gilbert’s pass to the first named. In the 68th minute, Guardian Angel scored another goal when Nicholas found Sahil in the area with perfect delivery, but his shot was blocked by the Manora keeper. However to ball rolled to Abranches, who made no mistake to make it 2-3. Minutes later, Manora scored their fourth to regain their two-goal cushion through Farid. Guardian Angel pulled another goal back through Peter Carvalho but Manora restored their two-goal lead in the added minutes of the match through Vijay Rathod.
The GFA had a small celebration at the Duler Stadium to mark the 62nd anniversary which was attended by GFA Senior Members Babli Mandrekar, Domnic Pereira, Gregory Fernandes, Head of Referee’s GFA Franky Fernandes.
