The win helped Goa move to the fourth spot in the group
Panaji: With just a couple of minutes left to be played in stoppage time,
Ronaldo Oliveira
kept his cool to score the only goal of the match as Goa defeated Tamil Nadu (1-0) for their first win in the
National Football Championship
for the Santosh Trophy in Hyderabad on Thursday.
After losses against Kerala and Odisha, it was important for Goa to pick up a win. The three points have helped Goa climb to the fourth spot, behind Kerala (9), Delhi (6) and Meghalaya (3). Odisha are fifth while Tamil Nadu remain rooted to the bottom of the table.
The top four teams from each group qualify for the knockout stage of the final round.
The first 90 minutes saw end-to-end action where both sides came close a number of times.
Sarineo Fernandes was lively for Goa as he lobbed inches wide of the target before finding the net in the second half only to be flagged offside. For Tamil Nadu, Devadath S struck a solid half-volley which was met by a good save from Sanij Bugde. Nandha Kumar Ananthraj and skipper Alexander Romario Jesuraj headed wide after being left unmarked in the box.
Finally, Goa took their chance in the six minutes of added time. Clencio Pinto got on the end of a long ball from Nigel Fernandes, and smartly controlled the ball and laid it off for an unmarked Ronaldo, who picked his spot and placed it into the bottom corner to win it for Goa.
In an earlier game, Kerala scored on either side of half-time to register a comfortable 2-0 win against Odisha.
After a goalless first half between Meghalaya and Delhi, Donlad Diengdoh fired Meghalaya into top gear, striking twice in the space of two minutes to leave Delhi stunned.
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