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http://www.hindu.com/2005/11/10/stories/2005111004772100.htm
Hurricane Goa ready to hit Kochi
P.K. Ajith Kumar
Clueless Sikkim gets mauled; Karnataka also qualifies
— Photo: S. Ramesh Kurup
GOAL FIESTA: Antony Pereira (No. 9) and Joaquim Abranches (No. 17)
scored three of Goa's 10 goals.
KOZHIKODE: There is bad news for Kerala, Bengal and others eyeing the
Santosh Trophy. Hurricane Goa has started moving south from here and is
expected to hit Kochi any time. The Goans at the moment are indeed
looking unstoppable.
On Wednesday, a clueless Sikkim couldn't even make them pause for a
breather in the Cluster VII match in the preliminary league. Goa won
10-0 to storm into the final phase of the tourney beginning at Kochi on
Friday. In three matches the Goans have scored 32 goals and conceded
none. They would of course meet stronger rivals in Kochi, but being
forced to play the qualifying phase could well prove to be a blessing in
disguise for them, as a bunch of professionals have got an opportunity
to play as a team before facing stronger teams.
Less emphatic
Karnataka also made the grade from Cluster VI, in less emphatic fashion
after being held to a 1-1 draw by Haryana. Assam and Uttar Pradesh had
met the qualifying mark on Tuesday. In an inconsequential Cluster VII
match, Tripura thrashed Rajasthan 3-0.
Goa, a side brimming with talent and experience, was expected to win
against Sikkim, but not even its most ardent supporters would have
imagined it would win in such ruthless fashion. After all, Sikkim had
showed a lot of promise and pluck in its first two matches. But Goa was
an entirely different kettle of fish, the small-made Sikkimese
discovered in no time.
Goa gave another flawless performance on a serene morning. Even the
less-than-perfect ground conditions - thanks to the overnight rain -
couldn't slow down the nimble-footed Goans, who hardly ever let the ball
go out of their possession. About the only decent length of time the
young lads from Sikkim could spend with the ball today was before the
kick-off when they warmed up.
The Goans have been feeling so confident in this tournament that their
coach Maurcio Alfonso did a Greg Chappell, resting the in-form striker
Freddy Mascarenhas — who scored nine goals in two games — after less
than half-an-hour of play. Goa was leading 2-0 when out went Mascarenhas
and in came Jaquim Abranches. The Goans continued to score from all
conceivable angles and Abranches himself netted two, in the 66th and
83rd minutes.
The pick
The pick of the ten goals was the one scored by Nicholas Rodrigues in
the 32nd minute as he volleyed in a brilliant 35-yarder that didn't even
allow the Sikkim custodian Anup Sewa to react. Climax Lawrence scored a
hat-trick (36th, 45th and 85th) and the other scorers were Antony
Perirera (eighth), Clifford Miranda (40th, from the penalty spot),
Nicholau Borges (48th) and skipper Samir Naik (76th). Sikkim was reduced
to 10 men when Steve Lepcha was red-carded in the 40th minute. That
didn't matter really; even 20 would have struggled to contain the Goans
this day.
Karnataka faced more resistance than it would have expected from
Haryana, for which captain Praveen Arora scored the equaliser in the
36th minute. Xavier Vijaya Kumar had given the lead to Karnataka in the
17th minute.
For Tripura, Satyajit Deb Roy (34th and 51st) and Shyamal Bhowmik (50th)
were the scorers.
