Sreenidi Deccan put four goals past NEROCA, start the season on the front foot | I-League 2023-24

Sreenidi Deccan hammered four goals past a rather measly-looking NEROCA defense on Sunday (October 29) to pick up all three points in their inaugural encounter of the I-League at the Deccan Arena in Hyderabad.

A David Castaneda brace on either side of a Lalromawia strike made sure that the Deccan Warriors were miles ahead most of the game. Lalbiakliana rounded the win off for Sreenidi with an individual goal moments before the final whistle was blown.

Castaneda gave the Deccan Warriors the lead in the 22nd minute and it was increased by a free-flowing but rather impetuous strike by Lalromawia in the 57th minute. The Warriors came excruciatingly close to adding to their lead in the 50th minute but Castaneda was found offside by the linesman.

NEROCA struggled to come to terms with the pace offered by the Sreenidi midfield, which was manned by their Afghan creator Faysal Shayesteh. The attacking midfield also saw Rilwan Hassan and Rosenberg Gabriel bring Castaneda into play and push the Colombian towards getting attacking returns.

Sreenidi Deccan dominated proceedings from first to last

The defenders of Sreenidi were awake to the challenges put forth to them by the NEROCA defenders on the off chance; Eli Sabia along with Pawan Kumar stood like rocks and gave fullbacks Abhishek Ambekar and Jagdeep Singh the freedom to attack down the flanks with carefree abandon.

NEROCA seemed to be pushing on the odd occasion, with Haidar Awada being their target man. However, there did not seem to flow much creativity through their midfield.

NEROCA's wingers seemed to falter on the odd occasion, but then, Sreenidi's fullbacks Jagdeep and Ambekar rarely let anything go past them, as already mentioned.

Sreenidi will be extremely pleased with the showing that their young Indian players put up. Indeed, the goal that Lalbakliana scored was merely the result of the hard shift put in by him and the other youngsters, including Tluanga, who came on in the second half.

In fact, Lalbakliana was the one who won the penalty against Safiul Rahaman that Castaneda converted in the 85th minute. Sreenidi Deccan host Inter Kashi on November 3 while NEROCA travel to Kozhikode to take on Gokulam Kerala in their next game on November 5.