Dempo Sports Club had to settle for a draw at Duler Stadium today evening, after a last-minute equalizer denied them the three points. Coming back from a goal down in the first half, a volley from Shallum Pires and an Uttam Rai deflection in the Second Half, were not enough to see the Eagles earn their second win of the season.
Guardian Angels SC started the better of the two sides with the home team dominating the early minutes of the game. With the Dempo Custodian not being tested during the early minutes of pressure, the Eagles solely began to compose themselves and begin to stamp their identity on the game.
The first clear cut opportunity of the half fell to Dempo Sports Club, quiet for much of the game dealing with his defensive responsibilities, Richard Cardoz finally had the opportunity to deliver some quality in the box through a Corner Kick. His well-delivered set-piece found Gaurav Vaigankar at the edge of the box, his header lacked the finishing touch.
With the Eagles soaking a lot of early pressure in the first forty-five, It was the home team who were the first to break the deadlock when Jovial Dias put Guardian Angel ahead, A quick counter unlocking the Eagles backline!
As Dempo began to search for the equalizer, the boys would finally have the ball in the net before the water break interval, only for Left Back Gaurav Vaigankars effort to be ruled offside. With Beevan Dmello dropping deep to receive the ball, Uttam Rai’s hold up play, and Kritikesh Gadekar’s passing range beginning to be displayed more as the game progressed, the Eagles were slowly but surely beginning to edge the contest away.
After the break, Gaurav Vaigankar gave way for Shubham at left-back after picking a knock. With Dempo starting off better of the two teams, Darrell and Bevan both had huge opportunities to test the goalkeeper early in the half but both players were not able to do enough.
In search of the equalizer, Samir Naik looked to inject pace into the wings and the head coach opted to bring in Suraj Hadonkar for the young Danstan Fernandes who seemed to have run out of energy after putting in a very good shift. Just as the mercurial winger was being brought into the game for the corner kick attempt, a quickly taken set piece by Richard Cardoz, was met by Defender Shallum Pires catching the Guardian Angel defense completely unaware, his volley earned the boys a well-deserved equalizer and enough time for the second.
If Suraj’s presence was the lucky charm for the first goal, his passing and pace were proving to be the reason for the soon to be second. With two chances from the wide being delivered to Uttam and Shallum, the score was equal at the Water break only due to some fine goalkeeping from the Guardian Angel custodian.
The Eagles finally got their lead in the seventy-ninth minute courtesy of an Own Goal that was deflected from an Uttam Rai pass that was played for the onrushing Bevan DMello.
With a Dempo win looking to be the sights for the visitors, the game was to see another twist when Dempo was forced to play the last 8 minutes of the match with 10 men following an injury to Uttam Rai, the Eagles were not able to hold on with the man disadvantage and had to share the points after an extra-time equalizer gave the home team a point for their efforts.
