captain victorino stars in big win over army men as flaming oranje climb to second spot
the goan I network
DULER
Sporting Clube de Goa came out all guns blazing to bulldoze Corps of Signals 8-1 in the Goa Professional League match, organised by GFA, at Duler stadium, here
on Thursday.
After Thursday’s impressive win, Sporting climb to second place with 22 points from 10 matches, while Corps of Signals languish at the bottom of the league table with just three points from eight
matches.
Corps of Signals surprised their opponents with a 5th-minute goal. A 30-yard shot by Pawan Thakur dipped into the Sporting Clube goal, beating keeper Melroy Fernandes hands down, 1-0. Earlier, in the very 2nd minute, Egyptian Fady Riad collected the ball almost from the centre of the field and, after making a darting run at the rival goal, sent a through pass to his skipper Victorino Fernandes but the latter’s strike was tipped over the post by Signals keeper Binu
Purushotham.
However, it did not take long for the Flaming Oranje to level terms and once they did it they looked unstoppable as they pumped in three goals before the breather through Victorino Fernandes (2) and Fady Riad. In the 12th minute, Victorino was at the right place at the right time as he intelligently flicked the ball into the goal from the first post, off a corner by Cajetan Fernandes, 1-1.
Fady Riad doubled the lead in the 24th minute as a goal-bound shot by Alton Vaz was blocked by keeper Binu and the ball rolled to Fady, who tapped it home, 2-1. After some minutes of probing, Victorino was once again on target as he guided the ball into the goal off a cross by U-20 player Joston Cardoz, 3-1.
On resumption of play, both the teams’ coaches made two substitutions each. For Signals, keeper Niyas Mon and defender Om Prakash Bhogta came in, while for Sporting colts, Mauvin Borges and Marcus Mascarenhas came from the bench.
In the 53rd minute, Signals keeper Niyas Mon was tested but he brought off a brilliant save to deny Marcus Mascarenhas from scoring. However, the keeper could do very little to stop Victorino complete his hat-trick as the Flaming Oranje captain tapped the ball into the goal after Fady had done the spadework, 4-1. In the 60th and 64th minutes, keeper Niyas once again came to his team’s rescue as he blocked Victorino’s strike and a Marcus header
from close.
As the match progressed, Flaming Oranje’s hunger for the goals did not end as they hammered in two more goals through Victorino (78th min) and Mauvin Borges (79th min). Signals had just one last chance to pull back their second goal in the 91st minute, but Sporting Clube keeper Melroy flung to his left to parry away Suklab Bordolia’s attempt for a corner. While the Army man missed to score at the other end, Fady Riad scored with a fine solo effort to complete the
rout, 8-1.
