Mohammedan Sporting win 1-0, enter final of Gold Cup

KOLKATA:

Mohammedan Sporting Club

edged past

Sikkim Police

1-0 in the semifinal clash to set up a title showdown against

Sikkim Himalayan FC

in the 39th Sikkim Governor's

Gold Cup

.


Charles Atcha scored the only goal of the match in the 27th minute at the

Paljor Stadium

in Gangtok on Sunday.

The opening 10 minutes was a rather scrappy affair, with both teams unable to hold onto the ball long enough to create any decent scoring opportunities.

The first effort on goal only came in the 13th minute, when Sarra Camara met a left-sided cross from Sujoy Dutta, but he headed his effort wide of the rival goal.

MSC continued to press on, and it was no surprise when they took the lead in the 27th minute though Charles.

The goal involved passing movement featuring a number of players, and with classic one-touch football, they carved open the Sikkim Police defense, leaving the Ivorian with a simple tap-in.

From the goal onwards, Black Panthers dominated the proceedings, but poor decision-making let them down in the final third which saw Dipendu Biswas' charges went into the breather with only a solitary goal lead.

However, some sloppy defending from the Black Panthers eight minutes into the second-half gave Sikkim Police the chance to equalize, but goalkeeper Priyant Singh did very well as he came out to block Bir Bahadur Pradhan from close range, before Sanjeev Rai missed the target on the follow-up.

As the match progressed Sikkim Police did all the attacking and it took everything MSC had left in their tank to deny the onslaught from the locals. Priyant also made a number of telling saves to ensure his team's passage to the final.

The visitors will face Sikkim Himalayan FC in the summit clash on Tuesday.