GOA: Sporting Clube De Goa demolished Churchill Bros SC 4 -0 in their opening match at Duler Football Stadium on Tuesday evening. Sporting completely outplayed the Red Machines in every department. The latter not even managing one single shot on target. Basant Rai of Churchill opened the score line for Sporting with an own goal in the 24th minute, while Cajetan Fernandes (41’) Glan Martins (63’) & Victorino Fernandes (74’) got on the score sheet for Sporting.
The initial quarter saw a fairly balanced play with both managing a handful of half chances at either ends. It was Sporting who went full throttle as their attack line consisting of Victorino, Glan & Quan Gomes toyed with the clueless Churchill defense. It was in the 24thminute that a heavy clearance from Loveday Eninnaya found Victorino at the front who pushed for the goal, however the Churchill defender Basant Rai made a dash clearing the ball into his own nets. After this it was all Sporting, Churchill Bros defenders found it hard to contain Victorino’s pace which allowed Quan and Glan to operate smoothly in the mid creating numerous chances. In the 41st minute Sporting won a free kick about 35 yards off the nets, Cajetan Fernandes stood up and slotted the ball into the top right corner giving the keeper no chance. The score stayed 2 – 0 in favour of Sporting at the half time.
Crossing over Sporting picked up where they left off. Gaffer Mateus Costa introduced Seriton Fernandes which proved to be effective as the winger combined with Victorino well while Churchill defense found it further hard to contain Sporting’s pace. In the 63rd minute Glan Martins latched on to a loose ball in a thickly populated box to beat his marker and drill in a powerful shot making it 3-0. Gaffer Costa quickly got Martins out and introduced Ganesh Thakur who set up Victorino for a photo finish serving the ball right into the slot for the latter to make it 4 -0 in the 74th minute. The final quarter saw Sporting seal off the defense giving very little room for Churchill Bros forwards to operate. With this win Sporting climb on top of the Goa Pro League table with a healthy goal difference.
A jubilant Mateus Costa said “We needed this kind of a start, it’s good to see the boys play with confidence. We stuck to what we do in training and this is exactly the kind of result we get when that happens.”
He further said “Now we travel for the Durand Cup and we are confident we can continue this form there as well.”
SCG Press Release
