Srinagar- Downtown Heroes FC played their first game of the 2024-25 I-League 3 Playoffs opener on Thursday at Naihati Stadium in Kolkata, West Bengal.
Carrying huge expectations, the Srinagar-based Heroes played Goan club SESA Football Academy in Group A’s opening match.
SESA scored all their goals in the first half, giving Downtown no hope of a comeback. The Vedanta Sports owned club opened the floodgates in the 35th minute through Thokchom Beckham Singh.
Sachidanand Laxman Satelkar then scored two goals in three minutes to put the Heroes out of contention.
Satelkar made it 2-0 in the 45th, before adding another in the third minute of added time.
In the second half, Downtown Heroes couldn’t overcome the deficit even with several chances falling their way. The Ajaz Ahmed Bhat-coached team added eight new faces to their playoffs squad, although the head coach stuck to his trusted players for Thursday’s starting eleven. Former Delhi FC left winger Fahad Temuri scored the lone goal for the Heroes in the fourth minute of added time.
Downtown Heroes will need to retrospect after the heavy defeat, as SESA Football Academy dominated them. Per ScoreBar, the Heroes had 6 shots on target compared to SESA’s 12. SESA also led in creating dangerous chances, with 68, while Downtown managed 63. However, the Heroes had more attacks (149) compared to SESA’s 130.
With this 3-1 defeat, Downtown will now have to win the rest of its three Group A games to have a shot at finishing in the top of two and earn a promotion to I-League 2 for the 2024-25 season.
They will next take on Manipuri team, Keinou Library & Sports Association, on September 28 at 9:00 AM.
Downtown Heroes Playing XI: 6 Nirdosh, 2 Abid, 12Zubair, 20Abdul, 33Amit, 10Lalramza., 17Shahmeer, 31Mohammed, 35Arjun, 8 Imad, 34 Fahad
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