Shrikant Veeramallu shines as super sub as Maharashtra demolish Madhya Pradesh by 8-0

by Prasad bhutkar February 14, 2016

Maharashtra strolled past Madhya Pradesh in the West Zone game of the 70th Santosh Trophy with the scoreline reading 8-0 in favor of Maharastra.

It was a goal fest in the second when the team from Maharashtra bagged six goals. The highlight of the match was they managed a clean sheet rounding an all round performance.The game begin in an end to end fashion. But it was Maharashtra who took their 1st chance of the game from a set piece in the 6th minute. Number 8 Raynier Fernandes converted from the corner taken by number 15 Abhishek Ambbekar. This put Maharashtra right in front. They doubled their lead in the 41st minute when number 11 Mervin Stephen headed home a cross from the right from Vaibhav. At halftime the scoreline remained Maharashtra 2-0 MP

The second half raised a few questions. Could MP comeback from 2-0 down to snatch a point or win?. Will Maharashtra extend their lead and put the game to bed. Well it was the latter question which was answered as Maharashtra went on a goal scoring spree. A wonderful through ball from Vijith Shetty found Mohd Shahbaaz Pathan who cut in from the left to pass the ball staright to Shrikant who’s 15 yard shot found the roof of the net. And yes it was 3-0 in 58th minute. Soon it became 4-0  in the 68th minute when Mohd Shahbaaz Pathan converted a calm penalty which was won for them by Shrikant. The man from Air India who got injured and had to play for Sea View in Mdfa 1st division was leaving a mark on the Santosh Trophy

And he wasnt finished as Maharashtra made it 5-0 immediately in the 69th minute when a cross from Shrikant into the box was fumbled by the MP goalkeeper who tried to collect laying it on a plate for Mohd Shahbaaz Pathan who placed it into the net. Just as we thought there would be respite Maharashtra made it 6-0 when Harold’s throughball found Mervin who did exceptionally well to dribble past the keeper and scored in the 71st minute

Just as we thought that the scoreline would not get more humiliating this Maharashtra side managed to score the 7th in the 71st minute when number 10 Harold got his 2nd assist in 3 minutes assisting Aaron who volleyed his shot past the goalkeeper. And the Man of the Match Shrikant rounded off the scoring making it 8-0 in the 87th minute.

The scoreline at full-time read Maharashtra 8-0 Madhya Pradesh. Mohd Shahbaaz Pathan bagged 2 goals whereas Harold bagged 2 assists but it was the former Air India man who was picked the Man of the Match for his 2 goals and 2 assists also contributing a pre-assist in a goal. The man from Sea View was out to prove the doubters wrong as Maharashtra managed to silence it critics. On 18th February Maharashtra go head to head with Goa. Scoring 8 puts them high on confidence but they cannot get complacent against an astute Goa side