[Gulf Goans] Goa clinches Santosh Trophy 2005

Mon, 21 Nov 2005 22:43:49 -0800

 
 
SPORT-SANTOSH
Goa clinches Santosh Trophy
KOCHI, NOV 21, 2005  (PTI)
 
Formidable Goa, asserting their supremacy right through the tourney, clinched the prestigious Santosh Trophy defeating a fighting Maharashtra 3-1 in extra time in the Air India Express National Football Championship here tonight.
The two teams had ended in a deadlock scoring one goal apiece at the regulation time.
Felip Gomes (73rd), Nicholu Rodrigues in the 15th minute of the first extra time and substitute Joaquim Abranches completed the tally in the 9th minute of the second extra time for the Goans, while Soccor Velho (72nd) found the target for Maharashtra.
In a fitting finale to the tournament, both Goa and Maharashtra enthralled the soccer fans with their pleasing game. Though Goans had slight edge in the exchanges, Maharashtra too matched their famed rivals and on a couple of occasions threatened to forge ahead.
Goans, could have won the match by a bigger margin, but for the inaccurate marksmanship of their frontmen Freddy Mascarenhas and Antony Pereira, who had messed up chances from close.
Goans had also missed a golden opportunity when they earned a penalty for an off the ball foul by Maharashtra goalkeeper Israt Kamal on Climax Lawrence.
Referee Shaji C Kurien of Kerala had no hesitation in pointing to the dreaded point and Climax, who took the shot, drove over the horizontal much to the dismay of his teammates.

Goa, enjoying a slight upperhand over Maharashtra, went for the attack from the word go and were all over their rivals initially. But their attempt to find an early breakthrough went in vain as the Maharashtra defence manned by Santosh Koli and Clifford Kilmo tightened the screws in the rear.
Maharashtra, who took some time to settle down, slowly took control of the proceedings. They even threatened to take the lead in the 10th minute when Medio Paresh Shivalkar, who got possession of the ball in the midfield sprinted on the left flank, dodged past two defenders and crossed into the centre, but Reuben D'Souza was a fraction late in latching on to the ball and the opportunity went abegging.
With strikers Soccor Velho and Reuben always breathing down the rival neck with their immense sprinting ability, Maharashtra spelt danger constantly, but they messed up at the crucial juncture.
Maharashtra, soon messed up a flagkick as none of their strikeforce was there to trap the curling drive by Rauf Khan and a minute later Santosh Koli drove over another flagkick by Steven Dias.

Goa, who seemed subdued, suddenly sprang to life and attackd vigourously. Shivalkar, who played an all-round game spurred the strikers Velho and Reuben with accurate diagonals was also seen falling back to the aid of the stoppers. Goa too got a chance to forge ahead in the 32nd minute, but Micky Fernandes who was inside the Maharashtra box, though was able to trap neatly a cross by Freddy Mascarenhas from the right, but delayed in taking his shot and fumbled with the opportunity.
A Freddy shot from close hit the defender and went out and on another occasion Antony Pereira messed up a neat through-pass from John Barreto from the right flank.
The Goan way of penetrating into the rival half with a series of square passes caught the Maharashtra rear off the guard, however could not convert it into goals as their frontmen indulged in hasty shots which went straight into the hands of Israt Kamal or sailed over the horizontal.
The Goan midfiled functioned with flexibility and medio Climax Lawrence was seen sending his forwards time and again with diagonal and short passes, but they fumbled when it mattered the most.

The second session also saw both the team sharing the honours with occasional burst into the rival goalmouth, but without any success. However, the Goans and large share in exchanges. The ball stayed with the Goans and they threatened to take grip over the match.
Goa could have taken the lead in the 50th minute but a stinging 20-yard long ranger by climax narrowly missed the target.
Meanwhile, goalkeeper Felik came to the rescue of Goa by flunging to his left to bring off an excellent save a Rauf Khan grounder, for an abortive corner.
Climax who withdrew quite often to plug the holes in the halfline came out with a string of defense splitting passes but were messed up by Freddy and Antony Pereira.
Maharashtra too switched gears and brought in a sense of urgency in their attack and soon the Goan goal had a narrow escape as Reuben, failed to take advantage off a cross by Velho into the centre.
 
(courtesy: OUTLOOK INDIA)
 
Related news:
Goa defeat Punjab 2-0, to meet Maharashtra in finals
KOCHI, NOV 19 (PTI)
Goa handed out a 2-0 defeat to Punjab in the second semi-finals to set up a title clash with Maharashtra in the Santhosh Trophy here today.
Medio Peter Carvalho drew first blood for Goa in the 13th minute, while captain Mahesh Gawli sealed the fate of the match with a goal in the 48th minute.
The Goans, who have had a dream run so far, scoring 39 goals and conceding just one, could have won by a much bigger margin, but for the poor marksmanship of their forwards.
Earlier, the Goans played a pleasing game with short passes and dominated the major part of the first session, while the Punjab team failed to combine well. Strikers Gyan Moyan and Gurpreset Singh struggled to control their shots.
The Goans took a little time to settle down. But once they found their groove, there was no stopping them, with forwards Freddy Mascarenhas and Anthony Peretra Broke repeatedly piercing through the Punjab defence.

With the Punjab defence a trifle vulnerable and even flat footed, the Goans were often presented with scoring chances. On one such occasion, Pereira's long ranger, which seemed to rocket into the net, was brilliantly pushed over by an alert Punjab keeper Karanjit Singh for an abortive corner. However, the relentless attack by the Goan outfit paid dividends as medio Peter Carvalho, taking advantage off a floating corner kick by Nicholas Rodrigues, headed home to put his team into the lead in the 13th minute.
The Goans frequently forayed into the rival goalmouth, but their frontmen Freddy and Pereira either shot to Karanjit or yielded possession to the rival defenders.
Goa squandered a a golden opportunity when Karanjit managed to palm the ball away for it to hit the the goalpost and go out.
The aberration in the Punjab deep defence made things easy for Freddy, who made use of the unmanned zone between the rival right wing back and the in-back quite frequently.

The Goan style of penetrating into the rival half with a series of square passes caught the strong Punjab rear off guard. The ball stayed with the Goans and they teased the rival defence with their sudden bursts from the middle. They kept up the tempo in the second session and increased the lead through captain Mahesh Gawli, who neatly trapped a measured cross by Pereira from the right flank and banged to the left of Karanjit in the 48th minute.
Freddydi got a chance midway through the session to further increase the goal margin, but instead of placing the ball, chose to hit straight to Karanjit.
In the closing stages, Punjab went all out to get a consolation goal, but the Goan defence rose to great heights to thwart each of their attempts.
 
______
 
Absorbing tussle expected in Santosh Trophy final
KOCHI, NOV 20 (PTI)
An absorbing tussle is on the cards as formidable Goa, gunning for their fourth title triumph, lock horns with a well-knit Maharashtra in the final of Air India Express Santosh Trophy football championship at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here tomorrow.
A prediction on the outcome will be hazardous since both teams have shown improvement as the tournament has progressed. However, the Goans have had a tremendous run of success so far and enjoy the psychological advantage of having scored 41 goals in the competition so far, while conceding only one.
Though enjoying a slight edge, the Goans' task will not be easy as the young Maharashtra outfit has become better with every outing and the players are in peak form.
"The morale of the team is very good and the players are raring to go. I expect the team to come out with the same type of performance as they had shown in earlier matches," an optimistic Goan coach Mauricio Afonso told PTI.
Except captain Samir Naik, who did not play in the semifinal against Punjab, all other players were fit, he said.
Goa has won the prestigious cup thrice. In 1983, they shared the trophy with West Bengal at Kolkata, in 1984 won the laurels at Chennai and again in 1990 at home.
Maharashtra's progress has been praiseworthy, since it had to overcome the challenges posed by tough teams, including former champions Services and 29-time winners West Bengal, who were beaten 2-0.

Maharashtra, despite not playing to their form in the semifinals against holders Kerala, managed to edge out the hosts with a solitary goal. The victory was significant as Maharashtra had to play without the service of their star striker international Abhishek Yadav who was nursing an injury. On the other hand, the Goans after an impressive 6-0 win over Assam, found the going tough against Manipur in the last quarterfinal league and managed to share the honours with a 1-1 draw in a match that witnessed ugly scenes on the field after Goa struck the equaliser.
However, the incident did not impact the performance of the Goans in their semifinals against last year's runners-up Punjab, which they won 2-0.
The Goans' fortunes revolve around their star striking duo of Freddy Mascarenhas and Antony Pereira, who have scored eight goals each in the tournament so far. Their midfield is reliable and resourceful Climax Lawrence and Peter Carvalho can bring thrust into the attack.
Nippy Micky Fernandes and Nicholas Rodrigues with their speed and ball control would lend sharpness to the attack. However, the defence which showed a tendency to crack under pressure, needs to tighten a bit while the presence of goalkeeper Felix D'Souza should boost their morale further.
Maharashtra too have a strong attacking line spearheaded by Abhishek Yadav and hardworking Soccor Velho, who has been a thorn in the flesh of rivals.
If this combination clicks on the morrow, Felix will have a tough time at the goalpost. Reuben D'Souza is capable of giving a razor touch upfront as was seen in the match against Kerala, where he scored the all important goal to show the door to the hosts.

Rauf Khan and Steven Dias are a force to reckon with in the Maharashtra midfield. Dias has been playing a steller role as he successfully fed his strikeforce with measured and accurate through and overhead passes. The defence manned by Jinto Jose, Clifford Kilmo and Hekmat Singh had so far done a decent job while Israt Kamal's performance under the Maharashtra goalpost had been excellent.
The most surprising aspect of the current edition is the apathy of the spectators known for their passion for football. Except for a couple of matches wherein Kerala figured, there was not much of a crowd for the prestigious tournament.
However, the match promises to be an absorbing and evenly contested encounter and the team that settles down fast and converts the chances that comes their way will have the last laugh.
 
- Forwarded by www.goa-world.com


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