Dempo SC halt Sesa FA’s unbeaten run in Goa Pro League

Pedro Gonsalves and Gaurav Vaigankar scored the goals to guide their side to victory.

Dempo SC halted Sesa Football Academy’s unbeaten run as they secured an easy 2-0 win over the academy boys in the Goa Pro League match played at Duler Stadium on Monday. Pedro Gonsalves scored the opener in the 22nd minute, while Gaurav Vaigankar sealed the three points for Dempo in the 51st minute.

The win helped Dempo to top the table with 16 points from seven outings, while Sesa remained in the seventh position with eight points from as many games.

Dempo coach Samir Naik made three changes to his side which defeated YC Manora by a 4-0 margin. Darell Mascarenhas, along with two youngsters Velanco Rodrigues and Vinay Harji made into the starting XI for them. On the other hand, Sesa made many changes to their side as Macbon Fernandes, Lunkhosel Haokip and Laishram Meitei made the first start, while Stephen Colaco and Sandeep S were back in the lineup for the academy side.

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After a bright start, Sesa had the best chance to surge ahead in the eighth minute when Laishram set up Mahammed Faheez in the box with a defence-splitting pass. However, Dempo skipper Shallum Pires made a timely interception to keep his side safe.

Dempo took another 10 minutes to come up with their first potent attack of the match as Vinay sent a beautiful through pass to Velanco in the box. Velanco dribbled past a defender and shot on the goal but Sesa keeper Roanal Gaunkar blocked the attempt. However, the Golden Eagles took the lead in the 22nd minute from a corner. A well-taken set-piece by Suraj Hadkonkar was smartly headed in by Pedro Gonsalves from the first post to make it 1-0.

The academy side had a chance to restore parity a few minutes before the half-time, when they were awarded a free-kick just outside the box. However, Shridharnath Dyaneshwar wasted an easy opportunity with an aimless strike from the set-piece. Dempo also tried to increase their lead before the half-time but a few aimless strikes from their attackers and strong defending restricted the Golden Eagles lead by just a goal after the first half.

Dempo should have taken the lead within five minutes of the match resumed in the second half. However, Suraj’s goalbound strike was acrobatically pushed for a corner by Sesa custodian Roanal. They managed to double their lead from the resultant corner in the very next minute. It was Suraj once again with a perfect delivery from the corner where Gaurav Vaigankar made no mistake to find the net with a neat header and making the score 2-0.

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Sesa also had a chance to reduce the margin just after crossing the hour mark as Vishnu Gosawi sent a low cross in the box to Faheez in the box but the forward’s attempt was blocked by Dempo defender Edwin Viegas. The ball reached to unmarked substitute Kunal Salgaonkar in front of the goal but the forward's shot missed the target by a few inches.

A few minutes later, Dempo keeper Dylan delayed clearing the back pass from his teammate where Faheez blocked his shot and the loose ball was fed to Laishram in the box. However, the latter’s header could not find the back of the nets with the rival keeper completely out of position.

Sesa FA had one last chance to reduce the margin in the dying minutes of the match as Mark Barreto found Kunal with a defence splitting pass, who was left with the just rival keeper to beat but Dempo keeper Dylan Da Silva came with an excellent save in an one-on-one situation to deny the forward.

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