Vanxim overcome Chinchinim for crown

Vanxim Diwar capitalised on a leaky Chinchinim to clinch the title in the Pehla Cup All Goa inter-village football tournament yesterday.

Played before a sizeable holiday crowd, Vanxim scored on three occasions in quick succession after Benny D’Costa had nullified a first-half strike from Randall Pereira to make it 1-1.

Chinchinim have themselves to blame for the defeat. Five minutes after equalising, Benny D’Costa blasted straight into the goalkeeper instead of placing the ball.

Vanxim overcame jittery moments and had the opportunity to go ahead after one of the Chinchinim defenders handled the ball inside the area.

Russell Rodrigues made no mistake from the spot to give Vanxim the lead.

Within a few minutes, Vanxim got another easy scoring chance after Chinchinim goalkeeper Casmiro Palha stumbled while retreating, and Ivanhoe Gouveia chipped over him to make it 3-1.

Ajay Vase put the issue beyond doubt with a minute from the full-time whistle after he latched on to a rebound and crashed in a stiff grounder.

Earlier, ABC Benaulim scored through Benny Silveira and Roy Das to beat Loutolim 2-0 and take the third place in this competition.

Jai Kumar Verma, Consul for Visa and Consular Affairs at the Indian Consulate, was the chief guest and gave away the prizes after the final.