army men fight hard to deny panaji side as teams split points after goalless draw
the goan I network
DULER
Corps of Signals played gallantly to hold Panjim Footballers to a goalless draw in the 17th round match of the Goa Professional League organised by GFA, played under floodlights here on Monday.
After the drawn encounter, Signals have 15 points from 14 matches, while Panjim Footballers have 11 points from 13 points.
Panjim Footballers coach Savio Vaz started with the same line-up that had held Dempo SC 2-2. It was their foreign signings, Congo’s Alphonse Himoa Shako and Israeli Fady Riad, that gave the much required impact to the Panjim colts team. At the other end, Corps of Signals saw their coach Sub Rateesh R bring three changes in his starting line-up, Paul Victor, Harshad Thube and Amit Tariyal, after their humiliating 6-0 defeat against Sporting Clube de Goa.
The first quarter of the match was equally fought. In the 18th minute, Panjim came close in breaking the deadlock when Fady Riad set up Akeraj Martins inside the penalty box but the latter failed to connect from close. At the other end, Signals’ Pawan Thakur curled his corner to a well positioned Chand Singh, whose header went over the post.
However in the 33rd minute, Chand Singh’s header off a Th Roshan Singh corner hit the upright. Minutes later, Fady Riad getting hold of a ball danced past a host of rival defenders and once again tried to find Akeraj inside the 18-yard box, but the latter was late to get to the ball.
In the injury time, Signals’ Amit Tariyal darted inside the penalty box from the left flank and drilled a low shot which was collected by keeper Gurpreet Singh at the first post. In the 3rd minute on crossing over, Fady Riad was brought down on top of the penalty box by Signals Paul Victor. However, Fady failed to keep his free kick inside the goal framework.
At the other end, Signals’ Roshan Singh was well positioned but his strike from 25 yards sailed over the crossbar. In the 60th minute, Panjim Footballers lost another glorious chance to take the lead. A fierce shot at the far corner of the goal by Mahesh Kumar was brilliantly blocked by keeper Binu with a full stretched diving save, which travelled to Akeraj, whose effort was once again blocked by the keeper.
In the closing stages of the match, Panjim Footballers were camped inside the rival territory but failed to find the back of the nets. It was some outstanding keeping by Signals keeper Binu who ensured his team earned a point, as he came up with a series of saves to deny Prasil Kankonkar, Alphone Shako, Akeraj Martins from scoring.
