— Photo: S. Mahinsha

STRETCHING OUT: Jharkhand's Lester Fernandez (left) tries his best to check Tamil Nadu's Johnny in their Cluster V match on Wednesday.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra qualified for the quarterfinal league from the Thiruvananthapuram leg of the 60th Santosh Trophy championship at the Chandrasekharan Nair Stadium here on Wednesday.

The fast improving Bengal drew with Mizoram 1-1 and topped Cluster VIII to qualify on better goal average.

Tamil Nadu, which was two minutes away from being knocked out of the tournament, grabbed a 88th minute equaliser against Jharkhand to make the grade from Cluster V.

Former champion Maharashtra blanked Orissa 4-0 to storm into the quarterfinal league from Cluster III.

Jharkhand, after grabbing the lead late in the first half, managed to frustrate Tamil Nadu for major part of the match. The latter had itself to blame for the predicament as its strikers made a mess of the chances that came their way.

On the other hand, Jharkhand converted the only opening it created in the first half. Jharkhand's Vimal Paliyar managed to enter the rival penalty box off a rare counter counter-attack and unleashed a righter-footer which rebounded off the goalkeeper's body. An unmarked Mirja Bersa nodded in the high ball.

Missed chance

The goal galvanised Jharkhand, which played with more confidence and created more chances in the second half. It could have settled the issue in the 75th minute. Paliyar delayed his shot after he had wrong-footed the 'keeper. The Tamil Nadu defence regrouped to clear away the ball.

Tamil Nadu slowly wrested the advantage in the midfield when Jharkhand became defensive for a while in the second half. With quick clearances, it managed to frustrate Tamil Nadu.

Jharkhand then paid the price for slack marking. Kulothungan, who had a quite day, finally gave his marker the slip and centred the ball to James Singh who sold a dummy to the Jharkhand defence. The ball came to an unmarked Jegan who shot home from close.

Mizoram gave 29 times champion Bengal a big scare. Though it failed to score a win, Mizoram endeared itself to the fans with its uninhibited aggression.

The experienced Bengal side, fielding a full international line-up, did not stretch itself and looked as though it was preserving its energy for the quarterfinal league. After all, it needed just a draw to confirm its place in last eight.

But Mizoram played earnestly. With short passes, the North East side moved up swiftly but Bengal defence was rock solid. Bengal gave glimpses of its capability as it stretched the Mizoram defence with coordinated moves.

Bengal went ahead in the 58th minute when Raman Vijayan did a one-two with Dipendu Biswas before slamming the ball home.

Mizoram played its heart out and scored the equaliser through Lalawmpua who headed in an excellent centre by Malaswtlunga in the 74th minute.

Big win

Former champion Maharasthra struck form in the second half to thrash Orissa 4-0.

Abhishek Yadav finally did something of note in the tournament as he scored a brace (66th and 74th). Orissa, which only needed a draw for moving up, paid the price for being too defensive.

Though Orissa managed to keep a clean slate in the first half, Maharashtra's revival in the second half took the winds from its sails. It was hard working midfielder Steven Dias who fashioned the turnaround. Steven was a threat on the right flank and his precise centres often spelt danger to the Orissa goal.

Orissa's resistance finally ended in the 48th minute when Paresh Shivalkar scored through a diving header. Socor Velho scored off a rebound to increase the lead in the 55th minute. Then Abhishek scored the brace to complete the tally.

Andhra Pradesh and Nagaland drew 1-1 in an irrelevant match in Cluster VIII. Mohammed Fareed (69th) put Andhra ahead while Leipakcho equalised for Nagaland in the 81st minute.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail