Sporting win thriller against Bardez

Sporting Clube’s George D’Souza bagged the Man-of-the-Match award...

Sporting Clube de Goa scored a thrilling 4-2 win against FC Bardez in the Goa Sevens Premier League match, played at Sports Authority of Goa ground, Fatorda, on Thursday.

A second half goal-fest enthralled hundreds of spectators gathered for the Group B match as Sporting Clube registered their first win in the regulation time taking them to five points from two matches while FC Bardez are just with a point from equal fixtures.

A Peter Carvalho own-goal and Mauvin Borges late strike took the match beyond Bardez’s reach after Alesh Sawant and Shubhum Dessai had levelled terms for the losers.

Coming from a narrow win against Guardian Angel SC, showing faith and belief in his team, Sporting Clube de Goa Coach Mateus Costa made no changes in the playing seven while FC Bardez coach Climax Lawrence made just one change from the side which lost narrowly against Salgaocar FC in the shootout with LenstanAfonso replacing Franky Oliveira.

Despite starting the match on equal footings, it was Sporting Clube who broke the deadlock in the 11th minute through George D’Souza against the run of play.

FC Bardez team played as a unit with AleshSawant and Peter Carvalho teaming up well orchestrating cheeky moves in the midfield.

However, in the 15th minute, the former Churchill's lad AleshSawant’s goal-bound shot was pushed to safety by the Flaming Oranje keeper Vivik Gopal.

The second quarter was more of a midfield battle as Sporting’s Glan Martins played deeper to keep a check on FC Bardez’s attacks.

Bardez should have levelled terms in the 21st minute, but captain Peter Carvalho's header missed the post by inches.

The final few minutes of the first half saw Sporting draw deeper while Bardez FC missed on various occasions to draw level.

The second half was a different story which witnessed a thrilling encounter as both teams scored five goals between them.

Sporting didn’t take long to double the lead as Cajetan Fernandes scored off a sublime finish in the 33rd minute.

Hardly had the cheers settled, FC Bardez pulled a goal back through Shubham Desai.

The goal breathed life in FC Bardez as the team constantly raided their opponents. AleshSawant almost levelled terms in the 38th minute when he rounded off the rival keeper only to see his shot clear off the line by the defender.

However, Alesh got into the score sheet in the 42nd minute when Girish made a brilliant run dribbling past two opponents players before setting by Alesh as a goal, and the latter showed his composure as he slotted home from close, 2-2.

Just when FC Bardez were gaining momentum, they suffered a blow when Peter Carvalho scored an own goal when he tried to defend a Sporting Clube free-kick.

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Coach Mateus introduced Mauvin Borges in place of Joseph and the substitute made an immediate impact as he made the issues safe for his team netting the fourth goal in the 53rd minute.

FC Bardez pushed for late goals but, try as they might, it did not arrive as Vivek Gopal stood tall guarding his goal.