PHOTO: RITU RAJ KONWAR
CELEBRATION TIME:Thoiba Singh (right) is ecstatic after scoring Manipur's winnner in the first semifinals of the Santosh Trophy.
GUWAHATI: Manipur found the elusive goal from a late penalty in the extra-time to beat Services 1-0 in the first semifinal of the 65th senior National football championship here on Thursday, and made it to its second final ever in the Santosh Trophy.
P.S. Sumesh, the Services stopper-back, literally handed Manipur the chance to end its protracted goal drought when he handled the ball inside own box to reward the latter with a penalty. L. Thoiba Singh found the net from the spot to give Manipur the lead in the 117th minute. The chance came of a throw from Manipur's Herojit Singh, which Services goalkeeper Raobikanta Singh missed before Sumesh handled it in a bid to prevent it from going in.
The match went the extra length as Manipur, the 2002 champion, failed to contain the profligacy in its attack that wasted numerous scoring opportunities both in the regulation and the extra-time till the penalty, which materialised three minutes from time. Manipur plays the winner of the other semifinal between holder Bengal and Railways on Friday.
Aggressive start
Manipur remained overwhelmingly aggressive in the first half but failed to utilise the advantage as its attackers struggled to breach the opposition's defensive array.
With Services remaining rooted to an overtly protective plan, Manipur enjoyed the width allowed by its opponent in shaping up its offensive approach. But the former champion failed to convert its dominance into a lead especially due to the lack of incisiveness in the striking zone.
Captain Nilakumar Singh gave the first instance of this recurrent problem in the 14th minute, managing a feeble attempt from close to the goalmouth that Services custodian Robikanta Singh had no problem in saving.
Later the Manipur attack fell through in a similar fashion with its right wing-half Santosh Singh shooting wide off an open goal in the 20th minute. Tiken Singh's wild header, taken a few yards from the Services goal, in the 31st minute compounded Manipur's tentativeness in attacking.
Mounting occasional counter-attacks Services earned a couple of chances in the first quarter of action. But the moves remained wasteful as striker Arjun Tudu, who opened up the opposition defence with solo efforts, found no support from his colleagues.
There was hardly any change in the tenor of the action as Manipur extended the number of missed opportunities with Services continuing to defend after the break.
Thoiba Singh, Nilakumar and Nabachandra Singh shared the waywardness inside the Services box as Manipur earned three clear opportunities inside the first 20 minutes of the second half.
With neither of the two opponents showing the capability to breach the citadel the first match of the knockout stage tricked into extra-time.