The first half began in high tempo as the Salgaocar lads went for the kill in the opening minute. Shayne Rodrigues was able to clear the Dempo defence with a beautiful lob which he sent Divyansh Sharma’s way who in the momentum that he was missed to finish the attack. The Dempo lads got their act together in the next 2 minutes running down the left crossed to a striker who would have buried the ball had it not been for a spectacular save by custodian Antonio Da Silva. The game continued to be played from end-to-end keeping the fans enthralled & on the edge of their seats. In the 35th minute Liston set up Kaushik Negi after a brilliant solo run right down the middle of the field but the latter was not able to control the ball well & sent wide above the post. It looked like both the teams would be heading into lemon break with a deadlock had it not been for a free-kick in added time. Shayne stood over the ball & sent it right into the heart of the Dempo box for Flagan to head it to the back of the net, separating the sides as the referee called for half-time.
In the second half Dempo went on the offensive. In the 43rd minute the Salgaocar lads conceded a corner which although taken well was headed out. Trying to keep the pressure & crack the Greens’ defence the Dempo lads tried their best but were outsmarted almost every time by Stephen Alvares, Flagan Rodrigues & Rollwin Almeida. Antonio was called upon quite a few times & he too did his task well. The 2nd goal came from a brilliant move generated in the heart of the Salgaocar defence as Stephen sent a neat through ball to Devendra Murgaokar who spotted Liston making a dash for the goal & sent it his way not before the striker had to dribble past the last defender & calmly place it to the far left of the goal-keeper. Liston had another scoring opportunity as the striker who has become notorious among rival teams for his free-kick taking ability was given the same outside the box. However the ball was sent back into play after it bounced off the post.
The game ended as a triumphant Salgaocar Junior side reach the state finals where the take on Sporting Clube de Goa.