By Sporting Clube de Goa Media

GOA: One goal each from Akeraj Martins and Daryal Costa in the first half and one from the spot by Jesmon Soares in the second sealed the victory for Sporting against Salgaocar FC at Don Bosco Ground, Panjim in a high intensity U-18 I-League match which saw 7 yellow and 3 red cards as things in the middle of the pitch reached its boiling point. Lalit Tariyal scored both the goals for Salgaocar FC.

The Flaming Oranje started the match with great intensity creating numerous chances right from the kick off. The first goal came in the 32^nd minute when a good movement started in the mid field saw Jesmon Soares sending in a long cross half way down the pitch to Harshad Naik who collected the same and whizzed past the Salgaocar defenders to get his shot off which hit the cross bar and came straight to Akeraj who gave Sporting the deserving lead.

In the 40^th minute Schubert D’Costa and Harshad Naik combined well on the left flank to set up Daryl Costa who tapped in for Sporting to give the two goal advantage.

Salgaocar pulled one back in less than 2 minutes through Lalit Tariyal who found a loose ball of a set piece in a crowded Sporting box to drill one in for the greens before crossing over.

The second half saw the match reaching its peak with both teams coming all out at each other trying to get the early advantage. Third goal came in the 63^rd when Sporting’s Akeraj Martins made a fantastic run on the flanks only to be brought down in the box by Saurabh Patil, referee had no second thoughts before signalling the penalty kick. A clam and composed Jesmon Soares stepped in and scored with a powerful right footed shot into the left corner of the nets increasing the gap for Sporting.

After this goal things heated up as the Greens lost their composure resulting in numerous fouls. In the 68^th minute Denil Rebello of Salgaocar FC was given his marching orders for use of abusive langauge on the pitch. Things continued to intensify as the match witnessed an ugly incident which saw Daniel Gomes of Salgaocar FC kick Akeraj Martins at chest height while the ball was out of play. The referee had no choice but to award SFC the second red for the evening leaving them with 9 men on the pitch.

Next minute saw the second half sub Delbert Fernandes of Sporting pick up his second yellow in quick succession to receive his marching orders making things slightly even on the pitch. The final goal for Salgaocar FC was scored by Lalit again when he made a good run into the box to send in a low right footed shot reducing the gap by a single goal. The last few minutes saw Salgaocar FC trying hard to find the equaliser but Sporting defense turned out to be a hard nut to crack.

A jubilant Sporting coach Norbert Gonsalves said “We are happy to pocket the 3 points and this is an important win for us as it enhances our chances to qualify.” He also had a special mention for his defense which stood tall to tame a determined Salgaocar attack .