Calangute Association begin the season on a winning note, outclass Guardian Angels in Goa Pro League

Ravish Narvekar

The Curchorem side suffered their second straight defeat of the season.

Calangute Association SC begin their season with a fluent 3-1 win over Guardian Angel SC in the Goa Professional League match played at Duler stadium on Sunday evening.

The Beachside made a great start to the match as they managed to take the lead within 40 seconds from the kickoff. U20 Nigel Silveira after receiving a floater pass from their skipper Saeesh Halarnkar managed to beat onrushing rival keeper Bisu Jana with a lob shot to put the Calangute into the lead in the early minutes.

Calangute should have doubled their lead in the 15th minute when their forward Junior Carret snatched the ball from an Angels defender and was in a commanding position with just rivals keeper Bisu at his stake but the Cameroon striker shot over the crossbar. a few minutes later, Carret sent a perfect cross to his teammate Nigel Silveira in the box but the midfielder’s volley went wide.

Angels also had a chance to level back as Rosario Mendes tried his luck from the long ranger only to see it collected by Calangute's keeper Presley Mascarenhas. Another chance came in Angels' way in the 40th minute when Saivish Singh set up their U20 Valerian Hilario in the box but the medio’s tap missed the side post by a few inches.

Angels came with two more attacks just after changing the ends as first Gilbert Oliveira went for the glory from the free kick but Calangute's keeper Presley came with a breathtaking save to deny the Angels skipper. A few minutes later, Angels veteran Peter Carvalho also tested the rival keeper with a stiff grounder where the Calangute custodian once again gave his best to clear the danger.

At the other end, Beachside punished the rivals for not capitalising on their chances and doubled their lead in the 67th minute where Moises D’Sa made a brilliant through pass to just-in Dominic Fernandes whose strike from inside the box hit the far post before settling down in the net to make it 2-0.

Energized by a two-goal lead, Calangute further inflated their lead in the 80th minute when their skipper Saeesh, after receiving a pass from Pandurang Gauns made no mistake to beat the opponent’s keeper Bisu with a powerful grounder making it 3-0 for the Beachside.

Angels who missed several opportunities to find the net, finally managed to reduce the margin in the 85th minute as their skipper Gilbert scored from the spot after Calangute's Joywin Carneiro brought down Angels’ substitute Brivon Dias inside the penalty box to give away the penalty kick.

Calangute midfielder Moises was judged as the Man of the Match for brilliant performance in the match.