17th January 2016 – Goa, India – DSK Shivajians Football Club started their Hero I-League campaign with a 0-0 draw against Sporting Club de Goa at Fatorda Stadium earlier today. Subrata Pal made a string of saves to keep Sporting Club de Goa at bay and to secure one point for the Hero I-League debutants.
After a slow start to the match by both the teams, the first chance of the match fell to Sporting Club de Goa’s Odafa, who fired his shot over the bar. DSK Shivajians hit back immediately as Indrajit’s curved shot forced the keeper into action early.
In the 8th minute, Al Amna was ran through the defence to receive the ball but was adjudged to be offside. Sporting Club de Goa started piling the pressure on the visitors but were not able to break the deadlock.
Odafa’s shot was saved by Subrata Paul, who dived on his bottom left to deny the Sporting striker in the 12th minute. Sporting kept the ball well in the opening exchange, however, Perrick broke free on the other end only to pass it to Indrajit, who couldn’t get a clean touch to finish the move.
Both the sides carried on trading blows for the rest of the half. In the 26th minute, Sporting came close as Al Amna ran towards the defence, but the defenders cleared the ball before any threat built up. Moments later, Al Amna was through the defence and one-on-one with the keeper, only for Subrata Pal to prevent a goal with a stunning block.
Ralte came close to putting DSK Shivajians in front in the 35th minute but his header was inches away from the target. As the half neared its end, Subrata Paul made some stunning saves to deny Sporting any opportunity to go into the half time with the lead.
Second half was a similar story, as both the teams came close to taking the lead within the first two minutes. In the 52nd minute, Indrajit’s volley was blocked by Arindam, who had to stretch all the way across the goal to make the save.
Indrajit was at it again in the 56th minute as he picked up a ball from Surchandra, but his shot was off target this time around. As DSK Shivajians dominated the proceedings, Rafi’s shot was blocked on the line in the 59th minute.
However, against the run of play, Odafa found Rowlin in the 60th minute, but the latter’s shot was blocked by ever-present Subrata Paul in DSK Shivajians’ goal.
65th minute of the match saw Arindam reaching towards the top corner to save a screamer of a shot from Indrajit. The save was followed by a barrage of corners, but the Pune-based club couldn’t convert the same.
Sporting turned on the style in the following minutes as Subrata Pal made saves in quick succession from Marcus Mascherenhas and Glen Martins, whose clever chip shot was beaten away by retracting Paul.
The DSK Shivajians goalkeeper was brought down after a clash with Odafa in the 83rd minute, which left him seeking medical treatment. Subrata, however, was back on his feet to make another save from Marcus moments later.
Three minutes into the added time, Sporting came close to sealing the match, only for Marcus to be denied by Subrata Paul again, who did enough to send the ball wide.
DSK Shivajians take one point on their Hero I-League debut and will now look forward to secure more points in their upcoming match against Aizawl FC on 22nd January 2016.
