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Sporting Clube de Goa shared the points with Indian Navy in the second fixture of 128th Durand Cup played at the Ambedkar Stadium in New Delhi. Sporting Goa took the lead through a towering header from their ace defender Loveday Enyinnaya in the 21st minute, while Indian Navy equalized in the 69th minute through a free kick from the edge of the box.
The kick-off was delayed for over 40 minutes due to heavy rains that lashed the Capital city. Even-though the ground conditions were not at its best both teams decided to go ahead with the match after a brief inspection of the playing surface. Both teams started off cautiously restricting play to the midfield. The first goalmouth action came way past the first quarter when Victorino Fernandes made a dazzling run beating his marker. Sporting Goa were the first to score through a corner kick when the ace defender Loveday Enyinnaya launched himself into the air to strike a powerful header giving the Goans the lead in the 21st minute. After the first goal Indian Navy tried their best to get back into the game but the defensive partnership between Loveday and Clemente Joseph gave very little room for the opponents to operate, while their long range efforts were easy pickings for Ravi Kumar. The score stayed 1-0 at halftime.
Indian Navy came out all guns blazing in the second half, but couldn’t break the Sporting Goa defence from open play. In the 69th minute Indian Navy won a free kick which was converted putting things on level terms. The final 20 minutes saw Sporting Goa throw everything they had into the match but they couldn’t break down the defensive approach of the Indian Navy. With this draw Sporting Goa have collected one point from two matches played.
