Goa begin Santosh Trophy campaign with a win over Assam

Ravish Narvekar

Goa's Stendly Fernandes' second-half goal made the difference in the match against the host.

Goa started the Santosh Trophy Championship 2022-23 with a win as they edged past the host Assam by a solitary goal in the Group III match of the 76th National Football Championship played at SAI Training Centre, Kokrajhar.

The away side started the match on an attacking note and managed to dominate the opponents. Assam, on the other hand, relied completely on counterattacks but could not manage to breach Goa's strong defensive line led by Shallum Pires and Clive Miranda along with skipper Jovel Martin and Liston Cardozo.

Goans should have opened their tally in the 6th minute when Stendly Fernandes set up Ganesh Thakur in the box with a perfect through pass but the midfielder failed to convert from close.

Another opportunity came their way in the 15th minute when they were awarded a free-kick in the dangerous area where skipper Jovel found his teammate Clive with a perfect cross but the lad could not control his header from the set-piece as the ball went just over the crossbar. They had another set-piece awarded in favour of them in the 24th minute where Stendly went for the glory from the distance only to see it miss by meters.

The Host also came close to opening their tally from the counter-attack in the 27th minute when Jwngbla Brahma found himself in the commanding position inside the rival box with the ball at his feet but the forward shot over the frame from close.

The best chance for Assam came in the 38th minute when Milan Basumatary sent a perfect cross to Brahma whose goal-bound header was nicely fisted over the frame by the Goan keeper Hansel Coelho.

After the goalless first session, Goa started the second half on an attacking note and managed to break the deadlock within four minutes. A long throw-in by skipper Jovel Martin was smartly sent to Stendly Fernandes by Clencio Pinto where the Goan forward long-ranger gave no chance to rival keeper Arup Baruah to put the Western Coastal side into the lead in the 49th minute.

Goa had an opportunity to extend their lead in the 69th minute when Ganesh Thakur made a short pass to Kirtikesh Gadekar who sent a perfect through pass to Trijoy Dias. The winger covered some ground taking the Assam defender with him and beating him in the box with brilliant footwork but the rival keeper Baruah came off his line to thwart the goalbound strike.

Ganesh won the free-kick for his side just outside the box where Harsh Patre tried to find his teammates with a curler but the keeper Baruah once again left his place to push the danger away. Ganesh was in the limelight again in the 75th minute when he darted in the box cutting past an opponent and found Stendly with a cutback but the forward could not keep his tap on target from close as the ball missed the target by hairline distance.

Assam came all-gun buzzing in the dying minutes of the match where their forward came close to equalising on a couple of occasions but the Goan keeper Hansel kept his cool and was quick enough to clear the danger on both times.