Star of Canara came from a goal down to beat Jawahar Young Boys 3-2

by Balbir Singh December 6, 2015

On 5th December, 2015, Star of Canara Sports Club played Jawahar Young Boys Sports Club at Karnataka Sports Association ground, Mumbai in 20th Late Ramanath Payyade Memorial Football League Tournament at the Karnataka Sports Association ground, Churchgate.

Star of Canara S.C. came from a goal down to complete an impressive 3-2 win against Jawahar Young Boys S.C. No.11 Rakshit Pillai of Jawahar Young Boys S.C. opened and closed the scoring, but failed to save his side from a 3-2 defeat in the end.

The match began at a frantic pace with Rakshit Pillai opening the goalscoring for Jawahar Young Boys S.C. in the 5th minute. In the opening few minutes, Star of Canara tried to play through the back, playing sloppy passes which invited pressure on the defence very early on in the match. As a result, J.Y.B.S.C. received a couple of half chances inside 2 minutes.

The Star of Canada S.C. midfield were too slow to react to win the second-balls in their half, and Jawahar Young Boys S.C. didn’t waste time in taking advantage and won most ball, and largely passed it into the right channel to Rakshit Pillai, who took the better of his marker with sheer pace. Ashton Dias of Star of Canara S.C received a glorious opportunity on the 5th minute mark after he collected an intelligent throughball, only to miss kick the ball.

The goalkeeper collected the ball and moved the ball ball forward and hit on the counter. Rakshit Pillai of all players was presented with a chance to score after he found himself in a one on one situation; he lofted the ball over the goalkeeper and into the back of the net to give his team the lead. From the goal, Star of Canara gradually settled in the game, although played with a threat of getting caught on the counter attack yet again as they played with a high line.

With a slow midfield, which wouldn’t track back, Star of Canara S.C. were playing with a dangerous game plan. Star of Canara did comeback into the game as a result of a good spell after the goal was conceded. The goal came from Glen Moraes on the 16th minute mark who converted from a corner with a good header to level-up the scoring; Melwin Vaz with a fine cross to setup the goal from the corner.

Star of Canara S.C. continued their approach to push for a second, playing with a highline and a huge gap between the midfield two and the defence which was exploited throughout the first half on the counter attack by Jawahar Young Boys, who missed two sitters themselves. Both sides had a good number of chances to take the lead, but they lacked quality in converting those chances.

In the second half of the game, the first real chance fell to no.7 Glen Moraes hit the post inside 2 minutes with no one there to convert the rebound off the post. There were no real opportunities created in the first quarter of the second half. Star of Canara S.C. despite a large of chunk of possession failed to create any chance and only came close to scoring when Ashton Dias hit the side netting. Jawahar Young Boys were now completely playing on the counter attack and largely the player on the ball found no support when he received the ball inside opposition territory.

J.Y.B.S.C. utilized the pace of their no.11 Rakshit Pillai on the counter attack down the right-flank. On a similar occasion around the 21st minute the goalkeeper came way off his line on a long ball in space to Rakshit, but the latter’s similar attempt to that of his goal, this time from a long way out and a difficult angle he failed to convert and dragged his effort wide. 2 minutes s later though, Star of Canara were rewarded with their domination in the game when no.7 Glen Moraes found himself with a similar headed chance and didn’t disappoint this time too and convert to give his side a 2-1 lead and complete the turnaround somewhat singlehandedly.

Star of Canara doubled their lead in the 27th minute through no.69 Sheldon Rego, who calmly finished after beating the goalkeeper in a one on one chance which was created by a clever pass initially by no.11 Oliver Bennis. In the 3rd minute of added time No.9 Shailesh Poojary received the ball on the left flank and saw his compatriot no.11 Rakshit Pillai vacant and completely unmarked on the right-flank. Shailesh Poojary found Rakshit Pillai with a perfect cross field pass, and the latter made no mistake in converting the chance. But, the goal was too little, too late in the end, and only proved to be a consolation.