Sporting Clube de Goa to meet ONGC

Sporting Clube de Goa to meet ONGC

Sporting Clube de Goa will face ONGC in their final group match of the Federation Cup as they attempt to stake claim to a place in the semi-finals at Silliguri, on Wednsday. In another group match East Bengal will play Kalighat.

The Aiff on Tuesday has switched the timing of the matches, so they will kick off at the same time to ensure fair play takes place as three teams still have the chance to qualify for the semi-final.

Sporting Clube de Goa and East Bengal are both on 4 points from two matches, while ONGC are on 3 points and are still in contention for a semis berth.

The Flaming Oranje defeated ONGC 3-1 in the Durand Cup recently, but will not be taking this game lightly.

Sporting Clube de Goa defeat Kalighat 3-2

Sporting Clube de Goa defeat Kalighat 3-2

Dawson Fernandes netted a first half brace as Sporting Clube de Goa edged out Kalighat 3-2 in the Federation Cup at Silliguri, West Bengal on Sunday. Sporting Goa led 3-1 at the interval.

Nigerian Christopher Chizoba scored a brace for Kalighat, but his efforts went in vain as they crashed out of the tournament after suffering their second defeat of the campaign.

Sporting Goa were forced to make one change to the side that drew with East Bengal in their opening match, as Guinea defender Keita Boubcar who incidentally suffered a dislocated finger in that tie, went down with fever on the eve of the game. Rojen Singh came in to deputise and partner Adil Khan at the heart of the defence. Mackroy played in the hole as a deep lying striker in a preferred 4-2-3-1 formation.

Sporting Goa took the lead within the first quarter of an hour after Jovel Martins burst down the left flank and hoisted in a well driven cross, which eluded the opposition defence and fell for Mackroy Peixoto who flung his head bravely at the ball to score.

Seven minutes before the break, Christopher struck a cracking equalizer for kalighat from outside the box, which gave the Sporting Goa custodian Ashok Singh very little chance of keeping out.

Sporting Goa was determined to restore their lead before the interval and exploded lively forward at every opportunity. In the 42^nd minute, Dawson cut past his marker and flew into the box, only to be toppled over by a kalighat defender. Dawson jumped up, brushed the mud of his knees and coolly slotted in the penalty as Sporting Goa went 2-1 ahead.

Within the space of two minutes Dawson struck again with a low driven angular shot to give Sporting Goa a two goal cushion going into the breather.

In the 72^nd minute, Christopher bagged his second goal of the game as he tricked his way into the box, using sublime skill to reduce the margin for Kalighat.

The closing stages was exciting, as Kalighat’s Christopher went forward in search of the equalizer, linking up nicely with James Jiblee, while the Flaming Oranje continued to counter attack at every given opportunity, being egged on by the appreciating neutrals in the crowd.

 

 

Sporting Clube de Goa face Kalighat in Fed Cup!

Sporting Clube de Goa face Kalighat in Fed Cup!

Sporting Clube de Goa take on kalighat in their second group match of the Federation Cup 2012 at Silliguri, West Bengal on Sunday.

Sporting Clube de Goa drew 1-1 with East Bengal in their opening match and is looking for a win to keep pace with the leaders ONGC who defeated Kalighat 5-1 in their first match. ONGC will take on East Bengal in the other group game on Sunday.

Against East Bengal,  the Sporting Clube de Goa team read as Ashok Singh (gk), Mathew Gonsalves (rb), Keita Boubcar(st), Adil Khan (st), Rowan Pereira (lb), Rowllin Borges (cm), Ogba Kalu (cm), Dawson Fernandes (rw), Jovel Martins (lw), Mackroy Peixoto (attk mid) and Bong Betrand (for), playing in a 4-2-3-1 formation and there aren’t expected to be any changes to the starting eleven.

In the last match, the hero for Sporting Clube de Goa was Victorino Fernandes who rose from the bench to equalize for the Goan outfit.  It will be interesting to see if Victorino gets the nod to start against Kalighat or if he could play another starring role as a late substitute for the Flaming Oranje.

 

Sporting Clube de Goa draw 1-1 with East Bengal

Super Sub Victorino Fernandes came off the bench to equalize for Sporting Club de Goa as they drew 1-1 with 10 men East Bengal in their opening group match of the Federation Cup at Silliguri, West Bengal on Friday. East Bengal led through an Edeh Chidi penalty at the breather.

East Bengal was reduced to ten men in the final five minutes when Mehtab Hussein was given his marching orders after his second caution of the game.

Sporting went into attacking mode from the offset, forcing a corner within the first two minutes, but they failed to capitalize from the flag kick.

In the Seventh minute Sporting Clube de Goa’s Rowlin Borges was adjudged to have brought down Penn Orji inside the box and the referee wasted no time in pointing to the spot. From the resultant penalty, former Sporting Clube de Goa striker Edeh Chidi managed to stroke the ball in to put East Bengal ahead early in the match.

East Bengal continued to threaten, with Chidi and Naoba coming close, but were put under immense pressure and crowded out on approaching the Sporting Clube de Goa goal area.

In the second session Sporting Clube de Goa started to look dangerous with most of their raids coming from the wings. A looping cross from Dawson was cleared for a corner by an East Bengal defender. Moments later Jovel Martins came close for Sporting Clube de Goa.

With seventeen minutes left on the clock, Sporting Clube de Goa introduced Victorino Fernandes in place of Dawson Fernandes. Within ten minutes of coming on Victorino made his presence felt after latching onto a pass from Jovel Martins to place home the vital equalizer for Sporting Clube de Goa.

The goal brought an exciting an end to proceedings as both teams went all out for the winner, as the referee added on five clinical minutes of added time. But in the end both teams had to settle for a point.

Sporting Clube de Goa face East Bengal in Federation Cup!

Sporting Clube de Goa face East Bengal in Fed Cup

Sporting Clube de Goa will kick off their Federation cup campaign with a titanic battle against Kolkata giants East Bengal at Silliguri, West Bengal on Friday at 7p.m.

Although Sporting Clube de Goa will start as the underdogs against East Bengal who have lifted the coveted trophy no less than 7 times in their history, the Flaming Oranje are revved up and ready to go.

The Sporting Clube de Goa team arrived in Silliguri on Tuesday night after a delayed flight, but has settled in quickly to their surroundings and have been practicing well.

The Sporting Clube de Goa team was in a relaxed mood on the eve of the game, watching fellow Goan outfit Churchill Brothers take the field against Mohun Bagan.

East Bengal will have former Sporting Clube de Goa striker Chidi Edeh on hand as their main goal scoring threat, while Sporting Clube de Goa will be hoping new Cameroonian striker Bong Takwi Betrand hits form to help them come away with the desired result.

Sporting Clube de Goa depart for Federation Cup

Sporting Clube de Goa ready for action

Sporting Clube de Goa (SCdG) will depart early on Tuesday morning for the Federation Cup, as they prepare to take on East Bengal in a mouth watering tie, which is scheduled for Friday, in Silliguri, West Bengal.

The Sporting Clube de Goa Technical director Alex Alvares, has a strong belief in the squad, “The players have talent in abundance, I can vouch for that. But I have told them that we have to maintain our togetherness as a team to come away with success,” stated Alex.

Winger Freiman Peixote has not travelled with the squad and would have been a certainty, but is carrying a niggling hamstring injury and the management thought it wise not to risk him, keeping in mind the I-League is set to kick off soon.

The Flaming Oranje will face East Bengal on 21^st September, followed by Kalighat on 23^rd September and ONGC on 25^th September. Only the top team in the group will qualify for the semi final.

Sporting Clube de Goa squad: (Goalkeepers) Ashok Singh, Agnelo Gomes, (Defenders) Keita Boubcar, Mathew Gonsalves, Adil Khan, Rovan Pereira, Joyner Lourenco, Rojen Singh, Samananda Singh, Jovel Martins, (Midfielders) Bisheshwor Singh, Joseph Pereira, Kalu Ogba, Mackroy Peixote, Rowllin Borges, Pratesh Shirodkar, Velito Cruz (strikers) Dawson Fernandes, Victorino Fernandes, Takwi Bertrand Bong.

Coach Ekendra Singh, Technical director Alex Alvares,Manager Anju Albuerquerque and Physio Abhinanand  Chaterjee will accompany the team.