Young Gaurs win 3-0 at duler to consolidate lead at top
the goan I network
DULER
Goan Football Club came back strongly in the second session to register a 3-0 win over Vasco Sports Club in the Goa Professional League match played at Duler Stadium, here on Sunday.
The Port Towners managed to hold their opponents goalless in the first session, but Liston Colaco, Imran Khan and Lalawmpuia scored in the last 30 minutes of the match to give the Young Gaurs a fairly comfortable victory and three points. They are now four points clear at the top of the league table with 26 points from 10 matches, while Vasco have 10 points from 11 matches.
Vasco colts continued to have their bad run in the ongoing league after suffering three defeats in a row against Sporting Clube de Goa, Dempo SC and Salgaocar FC in their last three matches. Vasco in-charge Micky Fernandes gave the first start to U-20 midfielder Pidroy Carvalho, while Lenstan Afonso and Moises D’Sa were back in the line-up for the Port Towners. At the other end, Goan FC coach Clifford Miranda made just two changes -- defender Lalnunsiama and forward Lalawmpuia coming in into the side that had won against Guardian Angel SC in their previous round match.
The Young Gaurs time and again attacked the rival citadel but it was the last line of Vasco colts, led by their skipper Lenstan along with Mainoo Dadanavoor, Minesh Kunkolkar, Shubham Malwankar and Sanwil D’Costa, who restricted the rival attackers from penetrating inside the box. Vasco custodian Sanju Thapa also brought off some eye-catching saves to keep his team’s slate clean till the breather.
Early in the match, Goan FC skipper Liston Colaco darted inside the penalty box after dribbling past a host of Vasco players and latched on a blistering strike at the goal but the effort was pushed away for a corner by keeper Thapa. The best chance for the Port Towners to surprise their opponents came in the 17th minute when Schubert sent an intelligent through pass to Anil Gaonkar in the box but Goan FC keeper Shubham Dhas came off his line to thwart the winger.
As the match progressed, keeper Thapa came with a breathtaking save as the custodian acrobatically pushed Lalawmpuia’s goal-bound shot for a corner. In the last minutes of the first session, Liston twice failed to keep his shot on target with just Vasco keeper Thapa at his mercy.
On crossing over, the Port Towners showed some urgency in their attacks but aimless shots from Schubert and Sanwil made it easy for the junior Gaurs defence to restrict them from scoring. However, finally in the 61st minute, the Young Gaurs opened their account when Lalawmpuia’s cross was superbly directed into the back of the nets by Liston from close to put his side into the lead, 1-0.
Vasco’s players continued to commit errors in the danger area and conceded two more goals in the next 20 minutes, where in the 71st minute, Schubert’s back pass was intercepted by substitute Imran Khan just outside the penalty box and after covering some ground, he beat the onrushing keeper with a neat placement, 2-0. Ten minutes later, Imran sent a brilliant through pass to Lalawmpuia in the box, who got the better of Vasco keeper Thapa to score the third goal, 3-0.
