By Joseph Solomon,
AIFF Media Team
NEW DELHI: West Bengal hammered Goa 7-1 in a one sided semi-final of the ongoing 37th Sub-Junior National Football Championship at the Ambedkar Stadium in the Capital on April 21, 2016 to set up an exciting final against Odisha.
From the first minute, it was all West Bengal and as early as the 2nd minute, the alarm bells for Goa started ringing when Kartick Golder burst onto the left flank and released a delicious cross only to be disarmed by the Goan defence line.
It was not long before West Bengal attacked and in the 3rd minute they took the lead when Hassan Ali Molla rampaged through the Odisha defence line and slotted the ball home to make the scoreline read 1-0.
In the 13th minute, West Bengal doubled their lead as Sanjoy Oraw‘s thumping header from a corner kick ended in the back of the Goa net. Five minutes later, West Bengal virtually sealed the match as Hassan Ali Molla’s rasping shot left the Goan custodian wrong-footed to make the scoreline read 3-0.
Goa were largely reduced to their half and seldom threatened the West Bengal citadel. In the 43rd minute, Kartick Golder’s freekick rattled the crossbar from the edge of the 18 yard box and two minutes later, Golder slotted his chance home as the half-time scoreline read 4-0 in West Bengal’s favour.
Changing over and West Bengal extended their lead in the 50th minute when Hassan Ali Molla completed his hattrick as he breezed past two Goan defenders, before hammering the ball home from a narrow angle.
Soon after, Goa were awarded a penalty kick and Francis Demelo scored from the spot to reduce Goa’s deficit as the scoreline read 5-1. In the 74th minute, Hassan Ali Molla latched onto a defense splitting pass and scored to make it 6-1.
Shortly after, West Bengal scored through Sanjoy Oraw again as the scoreline read 7-1. Goa tried to reduce their deficit but went pale when facing a compact West Bengal defence as the full-time scoreline read 7-1.