Dempo Sports Club emerged State Champions of GFA Under-14 Football League after a strike each by Naythan Coutinho and Topan Minj in the second half helped them outclass Salgaocar FC 2-0 in the finals played at Cansaulim grounds on Thursday.
After coming close to scoring in both the sessions, Dempo SC – who dominated major part of the proceedings with nice passes and positional play – went into the lead in the 53rd minute when attacking medio sent a slicing forward pass to striker Nathan, who dodged two rival defenders on the left flank before slotting the ball to the far corner of Salgaocar FC nets to beat a helpless keeper Akash Singh.
Four minutes later, Dempo SC made the issue safe beyond any doubt when the referee pulled a Salgaocar FC defender for a foul as he awarded a free kick on the top of Salgacoar FC box from where medio Topan Minj dispatched a powerful dipping shot that crashed to the far end of the nets, keeping Salgaocar FC keeper Akash Singh completely dazed under the bar.
Earlier, the match began brightly for Dempo SC lads who latched on to brilliant passing with the midfield consisting of Seagmond Rebello, Aryan Pou, Topan Minj and Rabi Pun being quite impressive in their play.
Weaving smart passes, Dempo SC took the ball right into the box of the rival goal but lacked the final touch to find the mark in both the sessions until the 53rd minute when Naythan buried the ball into the rival nets.
Dempo SC defence comprising Manas Patil, Delmon Rebello, Vaibhav Naik and Leo Gomendes gave nothing as it kept a hawk’s eye on Salgaocar FC strikers, particularly on Rui Noronha who tried all the tricks up his sleeves to hoodwink the Dempo defenders, but in vain.
Only on one occasion in the second session did Salgaocar FC team managed to beat the Dempo SC defence when Rui Noronha came rushing in following a defence-splitting pass made to him, but even as he tried to score with a gentle tap, Dempo SC keeper Rohit Patil somehow managed to prevent Rui from scoring as his effort hit the back of the keeper, with the ball moving away from the target.
However, the Dempo SC lads made amends of the missed chances scoring two great goals when it mattered most through Naythan and Topan who deserve all the credit for giving Dempo SC team the sweet win and the deserving title of this league.
As the match neared its final stages, the confident looking Dempo SC team looked for more goals which did not materialise as the time ticked by with the referee blowing the final whistle when Rabi Pin was about to fire into the rival goal from distance.
