Nickson breaks Calangute Assn hearts
Nickson breaks the hearts of the Calangute Assn
Herald of the team
MAPUSA: Nickson Castanha’s 98th-minute header enabled Sporting Clube de Goa to a hard-fought 1-0 win over Calangute Association SC in a GFA’s Goa Professional Football League match at Duler Stadium, here on Thursday.
After today’s win, Sporting have 21 points from 10 games while Calangute Association stayed at 18 points from 10 games.
The first session was balanced, the teams had a few chances to score.
Calangute’s foreigner, Cameroon’s Junior Carret, had two glorious chances in the 7th minute to put his team ahead. He snatched the ball from defender Flagan Rodrigues, moved dangerously into the box and delivered a low shot that was parried with a corner by Sporting U20 goalkeeper Bhaskar Jalmi. Then, in the 39th minute, Jovito Fernandes Junior set up just outside the 6-yard box, but the latter surprisingly played the ball wide.
On the other hand, Flaming Oranje missed their chances. First, Llyod Cardozo just missed the target. Later, in the closing stages of the first session, Llyod broke the offside trap but only had to punch the opposing keeper and saw his shot bounce off the post to the utter disbelief of his teammates.
Llyod had another scoring chance but was tackled by Calangute’s Vishesh Nasnodkar outside the box. Rohan Rodrigues shot wide of the target from the resulting direct free kick.
When crossing, Flaming Oranje dictated the conditions. A flick from Joyson Gauncar sailed over the bar in the 56th minute. Two minutes later, Calangute’s centre-back Umesh Pujar made a brilliant clearance from inside the goal area before Llyod Cardozo put the ball on target.
After Sporting’s Chandan Gawas went wide from close range, Calangute got a jolt in the 90th minute when their goalkeeper Presley Mascarenhas had to leave the field after a collision with Danstan Fernandes. He was replaced by Cydon D’Souza.
After ten minutes of added time, Sporting coach Armando Colaco brought on Nickson Castanha and Velito Cruz. The move paid off when Velito sent a long cross into the unmarked Nickson Castanha in the 98th minute, whose header slammed into the net and left the large crowd of Calangute supporters dejected.
Calangute’s Saeesh Halarnkar received the Man of the Match award from Pravin Dhabolkar.