Calangute Association beat Corps of Signals in Goa Pro League

Sachidanand’s goal in the first half made the difference in the game.

Calangute Association secured a first-ever win on their home stadium as they edged Corps of Signals by a narrow 1-0 margin in the Goa Professional League match played at Poriat Football Ground on Saturday afternoon.

Calangute who had drawn against Panjim Footballers in the last match had three changes to their side as Goalkeeper Shubham Naik, Defender Melton Lobo and forward Diptesh Naik made into the cut. Whereas, Signals also had a few changes to their side following a narrow defeat against FC Goa in the last match as their coach Ratheesh R gave the starts to Ankan Dawn and Amit Tariyal in the starting XI.

Signals had a chance to take the lead in the fifth minutes when their winger Harshad Thube made a darting run on the wing cutting past few opponents on his way but his goalbound shot was brilliantly blocked by the Calangute keeper Shubham.

At the other end, Calangute took the lead in the 14th minutes when Franky Oliveira found Sachidanand Satelkar with a long ball who carried the ball in the box and made no mistake to beat the onrushing keeper Binu Purshothama, making it 1-0 for the Beachside.

A few minutes later, Sanket Jotkar had a chance to double their lead when he was in the commanding position in the box but the striker chose to pass the ball to Franky who failed to keep his shot on target.

Franky wasted another opportunity in the 31st minutes when a freekick from his teammate Dominic Fernandes was cleared by Signals defender Amit which landed into his feet but the striker once again shot wide from inside the box.

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On crossing over, Calangute had another chance to inflate their lead in the 47th minute when a cross from Sachidanand was brilliantly flicked to Franky by Sanket but the forward once again failed to convert from the goalmouth. This was the only time in the entire session when Calangute came close to scoring as rest of the session witnessed continues attacks from the visitors but could not convert any of it.

In few of these, first, Harshad fired a left-footer from the top of the box but Calangute keeper Shubham brilliantly fisted it over the crossbar for a corner. Another chance went into vain for the Army men in the added time as a Nim Bhutia went for the glory from the edge of the box but the midfielder was unlucky as his strike hit the top right before going out for a goal-kick.