Laximanrao rane

National Football Championship: Striker Necio Fernandes netted once in each half as Goa beat Kerala 2-0 in their second Group A match of the Final Round of the 77th National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy at the Golden Jubilee Stadium in Yupia on Friday.

With this win, Goa moved to second on the table with four points, two behind leaders Services, who beat Arunachal Pradesh earlier in the day.

Having failed to build on to their 3-1 win over Assam on the opening day, Kerala dropped to third place with three points. It was the second time Goa got the better of Kerala this season after a 1-0 group stage win in Benaulim back in October. Kerala were the ones to get off the blocks quicker and almost made a crisp start when Abdu Raheem K, who opened the scoring in the previous win over Assam, hit the post with a header in the third minute.