HASC's stuttering campaign in the ONGC ‘I'-League football floundered further as a reinforced Dempo Sports Club effortlessly notched up a 3-0 win in their encounter at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium, here on Sunday.
Nigerian striker Ranty Martins scored twice as Dempo — bolstered by the return of Indian internationals Climax Lawrence, Clifford Miranda, and Mahesh Gawli — ran the home team ragged on a surface that was far from perfect.
“The condition of the ground is very bad,” complained the Dempo coach, Armando Colaco, after the match. “No team can play its normal game here. But I'm happy we're back on track after two defeats.”
Martins made the most of two simple opportunities that came his way, redeeming himself to a certain extent for his four consecutive penalty misses in the league.
“I'm happy that Ranty has started scoring again,” Colaco said. “He has got his confidence back.”
The first of those goals arrived in the seventh minute after HASC conceded a sloppy throw-in just inside its own half.
A floated delivery by Lawrence caught a stationary home defence out as Martins calmly sprinted ahead to poke the ball past a charging P. Pramod.
Dempo eased off for the remainder of the half as HASC — sorely missing lynchpin Xavier Vijayakumar through a hamstring injury — struggled to conjure up any openings. Jagaba Hamza Amaba struggled in his role as the lone striker, finding himself too easily dispossessed.
When he did manage to hold the ball up, any support was too late in arriving. Skipper J. Murali saw a lot of the ball, playing in a position just behind Hamza's, but let himself down with markedly poor control and passing.
If the host had started the first half in miserable fashion, the second was no different. The visitor extended its lead only four minutes after the restart. Left-back Marcus Peixoto swung a deep cross in from just beyond the halfway line that any HASC defender appeared loathe to clear.
Forward Roberto “Beto” Silva ghosted into the area from the right before lashing the ball beyond the goalkeeper with one touch. HASC's misery was complete after Martins bagged his second in the 67th minute when HASC had failed to clear yet another lob. The ball fell kindly for the 24-year-old who drilled it into the roof of the net from six yards.
Dempo climbed into fifth spot in the table with the victory, leaving HASC still languishing in 10th.
The result: HASC 0 lost to Dempo SC 3 (Ranty Martins 7, 67, Beto 49).
