Goa blank Tamil Nadu

Goa, with four points from two matches, made it to the next stage. Tamil Nadu, who completed their engagements in the four-team league, collected one point (1 draw, 2 losses) and are out of the tourney.

Goa dominated proceedings and had their rivals in all sorts of problems from the beginning itself. They could have won by a bigger margin but for the strikers’ poor marksmanship.

Goa in their last match will take on Maharashtra, who had already made it to the semifinals, on April 17. The match will decide the league toppers.

Maharashtra (six points) need a draw to top the pool while Goa require an outright win to take the honours.

Initially, the defence, led by Merlin Kamalas and Rajan, allowed little space for the Goan strikeforce of Francis Silveira and Alvito D’Cunha to move in. But the defence cracked due to the steady stream of attacks.

The first goal came through a defence lapse. Franky Barreto who got possession squared to Silveria, but Tamil Nadu defender Adarshan Raju was a bit late in intercepting and allowed an opportunist Silveira to snatch the ball and bang it home.

Two minues later, Alvito beat custodian Felix Edward with a grounder from inside after he was fed a short pass by defender Anthony Pereira.

Goa, continued to hold sway in the second session also and almost increased the lead in the 59th minute, but Silveira, who was well positioned with the ball drove over.

Tamil Nadu too had a chance midway, but captain Hamilton Bobby drove over the horizontal after he was fed with a neat cross by Sabir Pasha from the left flank.

Goa, attacked vigorously and substitute Bruno Coutinho, who replaced Silveira, took full advantage off a through pass from medio Venkatesh and banged to the left of Felix to complete the goal tally.

In the closing moments, Tamil Nadu tried for a consolation goal, but failed as the Goan defence thwarted Pasha and substitute Ajesh from moving into the penalty area.

Sunday’s match: Karnataka vs Services; Bengal vs Kerala.