“It was a good match to win. Our boys played a good game and I hope, they will maintain the tempo,” said coach Shabbir Ali after a one-and-a-half hour practice session at the Newfield, on Wednesday.
“There was some lapses in the defence but I hope, we will overcome it. Although most of our players were playing competitive football we have had very little match practice with this combination,” the coach said when pointed out about the initial hitches in the defence on Tuesday afternoon.
Shabbir hinted that he would not be tinker with the winning combination. “It’s not good to change the winning combination. I am happy all the boys are fit even after playing 90 minutes,” Shabbir added.
Asked about Manipur as an opponent, Shabbir said: “They are a good side brimming with young and gritty players. They have the skill as well as the spirit.”
Manipur, on the other hand, too were upbeat following their 2-1 victory against Tamil Nadu.
“Frankly speaking, we are struggling with the heat. We played the North East Games at the cooler Dirang in Arunachal Pradesh. So it is not surprising that our boys are finding it difficult to acclimatise,” coach S Ekendra Singh.
Meanwhile, Services and Railways entered the quarter final league of the 65th Santosh Trophy, on Wednesday.
Services rode extra time goals by forwards Suchungmei Raleng and Shaji A D’Silva to overcome Delhi 2-0 at Nehru Stadium here while Railways blanked Tripura 3-0 in another pre-quarter final match in Bongaigaon.
After a barren 90 minutes of action, in the Nehru Stadium, Raleng took advantage of defensive lapse to put his team ahead in the 99th minute.
Latching onto an accurate Arjun Tudu, D’Silva made it 2-0 in the 110 th minute.
At Bongaigaon, the railwaymen led 1-0 at the breather thanks to Balaram Singh’s strike 23rd minute. Singh struck again in the first minute of the second session to make it 2-0.