Sevaraj(Raju) Dcosta the Hero for Guirdolim Club

The finals of the Wildred Leisure Sports Club organised Inter-Village football tournament was held today at SAG ground Curtorim between hot favourites Guirdolim Club and dark horses Sao Jose de Areal SC. The match was worthy of a final with the momentum shifting from one team to the other not once but multiple times. The vociferous sunday crowd was the most entertained at the end though.

The match started with Guirdolim dominating the proceedings right from the word go and it was their midfield that dictated terms. The young and rising star of Guirdolim Irfan Yadwad was the origin of every attack that Guirdolim took to the oppents and he was ably supported by Brivon Dias in the center. Their in form striker Richard De Sa was a constant treat through his dribbling and darting runs through the center which at times caught the Areal defence napping. One such run by Richard and a quick diagonal pass to Benson who tapped the ball in gave Guirdolim the lead very early in the match.

The rare counter attacks of Areal were tackled easily by the ever reliable centre back Sevaraj(Raju) ably supported by Cruz Gomes. Guirdolim should have been up by atleast 3-0 in the first half had it not been for Benson, Shafik and Richard missing easy sitters.

Changing over Areal made 2 changes to their lineup and the introduction of Velsao SC Professional League player, Bersal gave them the advantage at the centre. Slowly the Areal boys started building more attacks and a complete lack of understanding between the Guirdolim keeper and Defender Raju allowed Areal to equalise midway through the second session.
Soon against the run of play and after a poor clearance first by the Guirdolim keeper and the right winger allowed Areal to take the lead with an easy tap in. With just a few minutes left and Areal having made a comeback, a few spectators started to leave grumbling that Guirdolim had themselves to blame for having conceded 2 goals.

But more was still to come, Raju who had repositioned himself as a striker by now, won a throw in on the far left flank. Raju himself took a long throw which was half heartedly cleared by te Areal defence and the ball landed again at Raju’s feet who cleverly chipped the ball into the D area where a high flying Richard D’sa connected a bicycle kick to the far post and the ball was headed in by an onrushing Daniel to bring Guirdolim back on level terms. The regulation time score read 2-2.

In the tie breaker the first kick was taken by Guirdolim which was blasted wide and Areal converted their kick. The second kick of Guirdolim hit the upright and went out and again Areal converted theirs. 2-0 in favour of Areal and again the crowd started to leave. The third kick for Guirdolim was a goal and Areal too converted with the score reading 3-1 in favour of Areal. Guirdolim needed a miracle now for victory and Areal had to convert just one more penalty kick to be crowned champions. Guirdolim scored their 4th kick and at this point Raju had positioned himself between the goalposts replacing the regular goalkeeper. The fourth kick of Areal was saved by Raju just giving a glimmer of hope to Guirdolim. Score read 3-2 and Areal could still win it by converting their last kick. Guirdolim converted their 5th kick and again Raju stood between a victory for Areal and hope for Guirdolim. The Areal player took a long run up and a diving Raju managed to get his palm to the ball and keep the score at 3-3. Now came the sudden death and again Guirdolim missed the 6th kick, advantage Areal and again a stretched Raju saved a third kick in a row. The 7th kick was converted by Guirdolim and Areal was on the back foot now. Surely there was a way past Raju to keep Areal in the hunt but that was not to be as Raju saved the 4th Penalty kick in a row to be the hero in Guirdolim Clubs victory. Certainly a game not for the weak hearted. Raju wouldn’t mind though as he won the best defender of the finals and a very special prize of being the best Goalkeeper of the tiebreaker.
Guirdolim club were thus crowned the CHAMPIONS!