MARGAO
Goa and Meghalaya played out a drab draw in the 77th National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy at the Golden Jubilee Stadium, on Wednesday.
Meghalaya went into their fourth Group A game needing a win to keep their quarterfinal hopes alive. However, a goalless draw that last season’s runner-ups stand fifth in the group with two points from four matches, thus shattering any hopes of making it to the knockout rounds.
While Meghalaya held more possession of the ball, Goa looked to work the ball out wide and create an overload in the box for the crosses. However, the Meghalaya forwards shot waywards inside the rival box who thought they had taken the lead in the 21st minute when Kabiraj Singh chipped a through ball to seasoned campaigner Singam Subash Singh, who slipped the ball past the Karnataka keeper to put the ball in the net. However, the assistant referee flagged him offside; replays suggested that he was ahead of the Manipur defence by a shoulder.
Goa had opportunities aplenty to take the three points and the lead in the Group A points table, but were wasteful in front of goal. Mahammed Faheez had perhaps the best opportunity of the match, when he sped past his markers on the left flank and entered the box. His effort from a narrow angle hit the bar; on the follow through, he did manage to get a shot away, albeit from an even narrower angle and sent the ball crashing into the side netting. Goa had a golden chance but striker Llyod Cardozo fumbled with the chances.
The action unfolded rapidly as Goa forwards made a daring attempt taking the ball deep and attempting a shot that narrowly missed the mark keeping Meghalaya on high alert.
Goa mounted a late surge and the urgency in their game kept increasing every minute but it left gaping holes behind their defence which allowed Meghalaya a few chances on the counter. The best of these perhaps came in when Karpen received a cross on a platter where he only had to tap it in from deep inside the Goa penalty box. However, captain Mohammed Ali blocked the shot. Goa had a chance to break the deadlock but Clencio Pinto fumbled inside the box off Faheez's through pass. Referee denied a legitimate penalty when Joshua D'Silva was brought down inside the rival penalty box.
Towards the end of the match, Meghalaya’s Wanboklang Lyngkhoi mad a heroic block on the goal-line off a shot by Goa substitute Joshua D’Silva to keep his side’s hopes alive till the final whistle. Meghalaya came hard at Goa in the closing exchanges but the side from the West Coast managed to hold on to the 0-0 draw, and confirmed their qualification to quarter-final.
