The 63rd Santosh Trophy kicked off earlier today. We bring to you a roundup of all the matches played.
Santosh Trophy: Jammu & Kashmir vs. Madhya Pradesh (Mango Peel)
Jammu & Kashmir 1-1 Madhya Pradesh (Cluster III) Venue: St Josheph College
Ground, Tiruchirappalli
The game between Jammu & Kashmir and Madhya Pradesh was the inaugural match of the tournament. Madhya Pradesh started the game well and looked likely to open the scoring in the first half. But three minutes before the break, against the run of play Taufeeq gave Jammu & Kashmir the lead. That goal gave J & K the confidence to push for the second after halftime but they couldn’t take their chances. MP piled on the pressure in the last fifteen minutes to get the equalizer and their efforts were finally rewarded in the 87th minute when Athoiba Maitai scored to deny Jammu and Kashmir a winning start.
Chattisgarh 0-0 Chandigarh (Cluster I) Venue: Nehru Stadium, Coimbatore
The match between Chattisgarh and Chandigarh ended in a goalless draw. Chattisgarh appeared to be the better of the two sides and has more possession of the ball. But they couldn’t keep most of their shots on target, thereby garnering a single point from this fixture.
Mizoram 4-0 Pondicherry Cluster III) Venue: St Josheph College Ground, Tiruchirappalli
Mizoram dominated the match from start to finish and took the lead as early as the 16th minute through Rohming Thanga. It became 2-0 to Mizoram just seven minutes later when Jeje Laleekhlua scored. It was 2-0 at the break and any dim hopes of a Pondicherry comeback evaporated ten minutes into the second half when Lalmuanpuia made it 3-0 to Mizoram. Mizoram added salt to injury in the 90th minute as Zaidinmawia converted a spot-kick.
Delhi 0-1 Railways (Cluster V) Venue: DBYC/Wisdom Town Stadium, Redhills, Thiruvallore
Railways gained a surprise 1-0 victory over Delhi in this Cluster V fixture. Railways scored the only goal of the match in injury time of the first half through Abhishek. Delhi did exhibit more urgency and attacking prowess in the second period of the match but the Sunil Chettri-led team failed to restore parity.
Tripura 2-0 Himachal Pradesh (Cluster VIII) Venue: J.N. Stadium, Chennai
Tripura and Himachal Pradesh contested a good match in Cluster VIII. The match eventually finished 2-0 to Tripura, with goals from Paltu Dutta Chowdhury and Rupak Majumdar. Chowdhury gave Tripura the lead on the stroke of half-time and Majumdar secured all three points in the 71st minute.
Tamil Nadu 7-0 Rajasthan (Cluster VIII) Venue: J.N. Stadium, Chennai
Tamil Nadu are the hosts of the 63rd edition of the Santosh Trophy and got off to a flying start in their opening game in Cluster VIII as they thumped Rajasthan 7-0 in a hugely entertaining match. The hosts scored as early as the 14th minute through Riju. They increased their advantage 12 minutes later when Pradeep scored. Tamil Nadu virtually wrapped up all three points from this match when they scored their third goal just before half-time through Suresh Kumar.
Nadu started the second period of the match in equally ruthless fashion. They got their fourth of the match in the 54th minute when Suresh Kumar scored his second of the match. Riju scored his brace in the 77th minute and Ravana made it 6-0 five minutes later. Riju completed his hat-trick just two minutes later in the 84th minute to round off an astounding 7-0 victory for the hosts.
via [ sinlung.com]