This match was officiated by Edward, Rosario, Roland and Arnold. The match started with the ball see-sawing around both teams and no team was able to take control. Navelim had the first shot of the game when Joquaim launched one over the goal. Navelim settled in the game and began organizing successful attacks. Indian Strikers had a few chances, but the Navelim defence did not allow the Indian Strikers a lot of room to take shots. Their best chance in the first half came when Jagadesh through ball fell nicely for Muneer but his shot was saved by keeper, Brito. Muneers freekick later was tipped out by Brito again. The goalkeepers at both ends were busy in the first half. Towards the end of first half, Navelim missed an open goal and the Indian Strikers were lucky to end the half goaless.
The Indian Strikers struck early in the second half when Noufol scored from a corner. The Strikers did not relax after the first goal and they continued posing a threat towards Navelim’s goal. Navelim had fought back to make a comeback from two goals down in their first game of the tournament and were finding themselves in the same position again. Christino Pires headed in from a free kick to bring the game level. Navelim stepped up the pressure and began to look for the winner. Indian Strikers were upto the challenge and continued fighting till the end.
No.7 Byju of Indian Strikers caught Navelim goalkeeper as usual outside his line and tried a long range effort but it was sent too high. On the other side a superb volley from # 8 Ferrao of NYC hit the crossbar. A header from # 14 Alfred Pires of Navelim finished the game in the dying minutes of extra time and with that eliminated Indian Strikers from the tournament despite putting in a great performance. Navelim will face United Friends Club for a place in the final.
DHL continue good form in the tournament to beat C.R.C
C.R.C played their first game of their tournament this week and sprung straight into action by having two shorts on target in the first five minutes. DHL began to settle in the game and organize their attack. Their first chance came from a free kick but it was sent too high. DHL increased the tempo by increasing the attacks down the line and kept the C.R.C keeper busy forcing him to make plenty of saves. Sony Gomes of CRC nearly found Angelo to take the lead but he failed to convert to put them ahead. Angelo then provided some nice crosses from the right wing but some fine defending by DHL kept the score goalless at the first half.
The second half was going to be a different story with Terrance Dsouza of DHL scored from a nice cross of Jose. C.R.C replied with a Sony Gomes shot saved by the keeper but #22 Seby Fernandes was there to slot it in to level the game. Both the teams were playing constructive soccer which was a delight for everyone at the field to watch. Cruz Silva displayed some fine individual skill to score DHL’s second goal of the match towards the end of the second half. The CRC defense failed to block his shot which resulted in the score being 2-0.
DHL defended well in the rest of the game and did not allow C.R.C to level the game. The match was officiated by Jerry, Joe, Arnold and Tony. DHL will now meet GOA Maroons in the next week’s semi-final game.
GOA MAROONS MARCH ON TO THE SEMI-FINALS
The fourth week of the 35th UGC tourney started with the first match Goa Maroons taking on KGA. The match started at 7:15 am with GOA Maroons first wave of attack resulting in a penalty two minutes into the game. Ian D’souza stepped up and took a calm penalty to put Goa Maroons into the lead. Goa Maroons took advantage of their early advantage and were soon rewarded when the KGA goalkeeper failed to make a regulation save, allowed #20 Philip Dias to nod an easy one into the goal to make the score 2-0 after ten minutes. KGA tried to get back in the game, but every time they would Goa Maroons defenders would be there to shut them out. In the first half, both the team’s maintained equal possession, but the half was clearly won by Goa Maroons. Kenedy of Goa Maroons took a nice long range shot forcing the KGA keeper to make a good save. The match was played with a lot of hot tempers flying across the pitch. There were a lot of fouls committed in the first half and the referee was forced to show three yellow cards in the first half and one red card to Kenedy in the second half. Goa Maroons will be without Kenedy, one of the top scorers in the competition for the rest of the tournament.
KGA was the more dominating team in the second half and started to consistently play more attacking football and also had more shots on target. Goa Maroons had a few chances to increase the score line and their shots failed to trouble the substituted goalkeeper Blesson. #16 Bernardo of KGA drilled a ferocious strike towards goal but Carlos D’sa the keeper of Goa Maroons made a great effort to push it out of the goal. A string of shots followed onto the goal but Carlos made a lot of good saves look easy. KGA tried their best from the corners and free kicks they received but accuracy was lacking which let them down in today’s match. They also managed to hit the crossbar which summed up their day.
Goa Maroons strong defending and great saves from their goalkeeper made sure the score line would stay 2-0 at the end of the match. The match was refereed by P.A tony, Joe, Tony and Arnaldo.
Next Week Semi Final Fixtures:
Goa Maroons Vs DHL 6:30am
Navelim Vs United Friends Club 8:00 am
