MUMBAI, JULY 4: Dadar XI slept through the match and Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT) ran away 3-1 winners in the opening match of the Gulf Oil Senior Division Football league match at the Cooperage today.A blunder by goalkeeper Vishwajit Matkar and an unwanted penalty added to Dadar XI's miseries.
Matkar's fumble came when Dadar XI had reduced the margin to 2-1 by a fortitutious penalty they earned when substitute Santosh Adhikari was tripped by goalkeeper Pramod Shridharan. Prasad Shetty had scored for Dadar XI.
Matkar let the an innocuous shot from Shishir Rai slip after seeming having it under control. The ball trickled between his legs and rolled in. By any standards, a mountainous blunder for a goalkeeper. That was the third goal and any hopes of a fightback that the tired-looking Dadar players must have harboured vanished into thin air.
MbPT had got the lead with Suraj Shaiza scoring after Mario Caldera's header from Siju Shankaran bounced off a defender's back rolled for Shaiza.
They got the secondgoal from Ranjit Gorani who converted a penalty award after substitute Hemanshu tripped a forward.
The way Dadar played, they were lucky that MbPT did not have enough competent forwards. The two Marios of Port Trust -- Caldeira and Lobo -- gave Matkar enough jitters with their long range shooting.
Dadar central defence looked capable of thwarting MbPT forwards but the right-wing back, Joseph Mascarenhas, was slow giving plenty of room for the rival forwards. It was one such late attempt to tackle Shankaran that led the first goal.
Dadar mid-field was slow with Angeum Luis taking plenty of time turning after receiving the ball. Because of this the forwards had nothing to do.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.