Devendra Murgaonkar leaves Goan FC in a wrong spin

NT NETWORK

 

DULER

Devendra Murgaonkar did not give up till the end and his goal in added time ensured Salgaocar Football Club ended sharing six goals with Goan FC in the Goa Football Association (GFA) Professional League at Duler stadium on Saturday.

Six goals spread over ninety minutes – all with elements of class – gave the huge fans that had turned up value for their money.

The evening started with two former colleagues of Salgaocar FC Youth Development Programme, Devendra Murgaonkar and Liston Colaco, playing opposite each other and the evening ended with the former showing his has caught up with his colleague. The duo was the pick of the evening, though their style of play was different.

Devendra was the first to open the Goan FC defense when in the sixth minute his beautiful header to the far corner was pushed for a corner by the Goan FC goalkeeper Shubbam Das.

Four minutes in it was the turn of Liston to respond for his team. His low shot from the top of the box was saved by diving Salgaocar keeper Rajini Kumar.

With both keepers tested in ten minutes and both responding well, the script of an exciting evening was clear.

Devendra opened the scoring in the 18th minute by controlling the ball on the left flank and lobbing it past onrushing Goan FC goalkeeper Das.

The goal set a change in the Goan FC style of play with Liston playing more upfront and the moved paid off as a Salgaocar defender fouled on top of the box. Liston stepped up to take the free kick and finished with Salgaocar FC keeper Rajini watching the ball fly past him into the nets.

The equaliser saw the Salgaocar players resort to relying on long rangers into the Goan FC goal. However, the shots were either blocked by the Goan FC defenders or the Salgaocar lads shot out. Between the two, Salgaocar FC had more shots at goals in comparison to their rivals.

As the game evolved Liston began to demonstrate his skills at free kicks. He tried Goan FC’s next free kick awarded by referee Tejas Nagvekar in the 38th minute. This time, his shot kissed the horizontal, once again having beaten the Salgaocar keeper.

Both teams walked for the lemon break sharing two goals.

It took Goan FC a minute after resumption of the second half, to take the lead. This time, Liston dodged past three Salgaocar players in their box and laid an easy pass to Nestor Dias to tap in for the second goal and lead.

Play was thereafter restricted to the midfield with Goan FC relying on sudden counter forays to break the Salgaocar defense. The Goan FC players pressed more for the ball while the Salgaocar FC boys played expectantly and it was in such a situation that Goan FC defender Sarineo Fernandes- who had scored a good goal against Dempo SC-weaved his through the flanks, moved to the centre and after seeing a gap in the Salgaocar goal scored past the goalkeeper. This 56th minute goal got the Salgaocar boys out of a slumber that they appeared to be setting in.

Needing two goals to restore parity and three to take the lead, Devendra began to play more open– trying to create opportunities for his colleague and keeping himself open to score and this started taking effect.

Salgaocar reduced the margin at the hour’s mark when Samuel Cost sent a crisp horizontal cross to striker Ronal Oliveira who’s shot after being punched by the goalie, deflected off the horizontal to go out of play. (2-3)

Salgaocar missed three gilt edged opportunities thereafter and on all occasions they needed a man upfront to connect crosses into the goal.

Goan FC, on the other hand, relied on counter attacks and on two occasions Aaren D’silva showed he needs a way to go forward. First, his over head flick was cleared on the goal line by a Salgaocar defender and on the second occasion, he shot out when he could have tapped in.

Salgaocar FC earned a corner in the last minute of added time and midfielder Samuel Costa let go a blistering shot from the top of the box which was punched out for a corner. That was the last chance Salgaocar had to get back into the game and defender Sanson Fernandes walked to take the corner. As he lobbed the ball to the centre, Devendra pushed himself towards the ball and headed in leaving the Salgaocar fans in joy and Goan FC fans in a
daze. (3-3)