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Garhwal Heroes stuns Sporting Clube de Goa

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: Local outfits hardly survive the qualifying rounds in the Durand Cup football tournament and Garhwal Heroes, here by sheer providence, made the most of the opportunity by justifying its presence with a 2-1 victory over Sporting Clube de Goa in a Group ‘C' encounter here on Thursday.

There were not many to relish the Garhwali glory as it produced a shocking result at the Ambedkar Stadium. There were no surprises later in the day when Salgaocar Club (Goa) handed Air India (Mumbai) a 3-1 defeat in Group ‘D'.

Garhwal Heroes would not have found a place in the Durand Cup this year but for teams like Hindustan Club and Gorkha Boys, rated high in local football, not backing out.

The Garhwali Club failed to capitalise and exited at the qualifying stage when another lifeline came in the shape of Dempo Sports Club's withdrawal from the competition.

Pitted against Army Ordnance Corps (Secunderabad) in the play-off, Garhwal Heroes survived to stay in the tournament. Thursday was a day to remember for the club.

Determined show

Sporting Clube de Goa was better ranked and had a reputation to defend but, Garhwal Heroes was determined to perform. And it performed in style, making the opposition grovel from the moment it took the lead in the eighth minute when Ashish Pandey converted a cross from the right.

After a tight first half, Garhwal Heroes explored the rival half with some innovative moves and pressed hard to stifle Clube de Goa.

Clever goal

A counterattack paved the way when Kamal Rawat found the enterprising Gangamlung Kamei and the latter trapped in a flash, waited just enough for goalkeeper Felix D'Souza to hesitate, before chipping the ball over and into the goal.

It was a clever goal by Kamei, who excels in one-on-one situations.

Mackroy Peixoto got a goal for Clube de Goa but it was too late, there was hardly any time left in the match.

Salgaocar all the way

In the other encounter, Salgaocar dictated the contest all the way. The first goal may have taken a long time to come but Salgaocar always looked like taking the lead.

It did in the 52nd minute, thanks to a long cross by Francis Fernandes.

As the ball dipped, Anthony Barbosa and goalkeeper Kunal Sawant converged on it but the former beat the Goan by a whisker and headed in a superb goal, but the collision left him with an injury and took no further part in the match.

A sensational through ball by Rocus Lamare set up the second goal that was scored by Ryuji Sueoka. In injury time, Yakubu Tusuf increased Salgaocar's tally while Vijit Shetty got a consolation goal for the loser.

The results:

Garhwal Heroes 2 (Ashish Pandey, Gangamlung Kamei) bt Sporting Clube de Goa 1 (Mackroy Peixoto).

Salgaocar SC 3 (Anthony Barbosa, Ryuji Sueoka, Yakubu Yusuf) bt Air India 1 (Vijit Shetty).

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