When heroic Goa survived a fierce Bengal onslaught to win Santosh Trophy for the first time

It was Brahmanand Shankhwalkar’s birthday but he was in no mood to celebrate. After an exhaustive 90 minutes just the previous day when mighty Bengal, backed by a vociferous home crowd, threw everything at him, he was back on the field, leading an inexperienced but fiercely-determined Goan side in its quest for the ultimate honour in Indian football: National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy.


Goa had never reached so far. In 1978, the team did manage to make it to the final in Srinagar; some said Goa should have broken the title

duck

, if not for an unfair off-side call that led to solitary goal defeat against Bengal. Now five years later, after holding Bengal to a goalless draw in the final, Goa were walking into unfamiliar territory. Will they be able to survive the onslaught again?

“At least on the morning of the match, not everyone was confident. I remember one defender, part of our first-team squad, feared the worst. He was warned by Nicholas (Pereira) not to bring in negativity,” recalled Brahmanand.

The fears were justified. Bengal had won six of the last seven national titles before the 1983 clash against Goa, who were yet to taste success at this level. Three times they were held to goalless draws in the final, but each time Bengal fought their way back in the replayed final, setting aside the challenge of Karnataka (3-1 in 1975) and Punjab (3-1 and 2-0 in 1977 and 1980, respectively).

Will Bengal manage to assert their supremacy again? Of course, apart from the 23-member Goan contingent and a couple of officials who had travelled to Calcutta (now Kolkata), nobody had any doubt. Not the packed crowd at the Mohun Bagan ground, and certainly not the Bengal team, which had a record nine players who were part of the Indian team at the Asian Games a few months ago.

Goa, though, had Brahmanand. His goal was always crowded but he still saw everything: every pass, every move, every danger. He clashed with his rivals – some of them dear friends – and was not going to give up on this one after sitting out of the 1978 final due to a bout of

jaundice

.

Eleven minutes into the game, Goa’s experienced defender, Mahesh Lotlikar, picked up a groin injury and had to be replaced. Vasudev Chodankar was handpicked for the job and he played the most memorable game of his life.

“My advice to Vasu was simple. Don’t take unnecessary risk, don’t bring in the sophistication of Mahesh. Just be yourself and simply clear the ball to safety,” said Nicholas, the pillar in Goa’s defence.

As the match progressed, Goa grew in confidence. Arnold Rodrigues, Jose D’Souza and a young Mauricio Afonso controlled the midfield and made it difficult for Bengal to snatch the ball away. Upfront, whenever Camilo Gonsalves, Bento Andrew and Dionisio Trindade lost the ball, they sprinted back to guard their own citadel.

Bengal didn’t know what to do. Seldom had Bengal faced resistance like this, and for the first time, they encountered a goalkeeper who withstood such pressure. Bengal had the best forward line in the country with the likes of Krishanu Dey, Mihir Bose and Manas Bhattacharya but Goa were simply unbeatable.

In the end, neither team could break the deadlock for 120 minutes. Penalties should have been used to decide the winners but Goa’s heroics had to be rewarded. For the first time in the history of the tournament, the Santosh Trophy was shared, and Bengal captain Compton Dutta thought it was best for Goa to take the trophy home and keep it for the first six months.