MARGAO
Despite some impressive performances, Sporting Clube de Goa’s campaign in the I-League 2 was marred by some unfortunate setbacks that ultimately proved to be their undoing.
A positive performance in the qualifying round where the team finished first in the group, had raised the expectations of fans. So it wasn’t surprising that despite the presence SC Bengaluru FC, Dempo in the final round OF the group, many believed Sporting Clube de Goa had a genuine chance to make it to the second spot and qualified for the I-League.
The Campaign
Sporting Clube de Goa started their campaign with a 3-0 win against the Kenkre FC. In their home match, Sporting Clube de Goa suffered a heart-breaking 3-0 loss against Maharashtra Orange FC. In their away match,the Flaming Oranje side put on an impressive attacking display but lost. Sporting Clube finished with a respectable record of six win, one draw and seven loss, resulting in failure to qualify for the I-League.
The Problems: Mistakes under pressure and unfortunate tryst with luck
If one takes a look at what went wrong for Sporting, it was quite evident that the team’s defense and upfront struggled in the final moments of the matches. Under continuous pressure, the Sporting Clube de Goa defense appeared to have difficulty maintaining focus, resulting in lapses of concentration, mistakes that could have been avoided and just poor man-marking in crucial moments. The team ended up conceding the second-most number of goals (19) in the league.
While on one hand defensive errors cost them dearly, on the other hand luck too didn’t show any favors as was seen in the game against Maharashtra Oranje FC, Dempo and Sudeva Delhi FC.
The Flaming Oranje Assistant Coach Climax Lawrence could only watch bemusedly as the already eliminated while the Maharashtra Oranje FC side had every reason to celebrate their victory, the result was a body blow to Sporting Clube de Goa chances to make it to the I-League.
Speaking about the performance against Maharashtra Oranje Lawrence said, "We played terrible. This was our worst game of the season. The guys were exhausted, and our opponents were just the better team. The loss and how we played are frustrating. It was a disaster.
"At this level, anything can go wrong. We can't use that as an excuse, though. Maharashtra Oranje surprised us with that early goal, and it threw our whole game off. We were disappointed with the outcome, but a big shout out to the team. We didn't achieve promotion, but it wasn't for lack of effort," he explained.
However, the assistant coach gave credit to the coaching staff for maintaining a positive attitude.
"The team spirit was fantastic. The support staff and team showed when they respond right away to my words. On the field, the players earned the praise with their performances, but credit goes to the management too," he said.
"They deserve a lot of credit. They took care of everything. I especially want to thank Head Coach Armando Colaco, the team manager, the physio, and the entire support staff. They've all been incredibly supportive. A big thank you to Armando sir for making everything run smoothly and giving me this opportunity," he concluded.
