The Hindu : Sport / Football : Punjab begins on winning note

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Sport

Sport - Football

Punjab begins on winning note

Sports Reporter

JAMALPUR (BIHAR): Former champion Punjab made a dream start beating host Bihar 4-2 in the only Group A quarterfinal league match of the National under-21 football championship for the Manindra Dutta Roy Trophy here on Tuesday.

Punjab, which qualified as the North Zone champion, had won the trophy at the same venue beating Bengal in the final in 2004.

Punjab pumped in three goals in the first session and added another early after the break, while the host could score only once in each half.

Comprising mainly recruits from the JCT Mills Football Academy, Punjab quickly found its rhythm and struck early.

The first goal came in the 10th minute when striker Asim Hassan chested down a long cross from midfielder Palwinder Singh and slotted home with a half volley.

Hassan provided the assist four minutes later for Amandeep Singh to beat the Bihar custodian Mohammad Javed.

Bihar pulled one back in the 27th minute through Shibrat Gautam. However, Bihar defender Satish Chandra tripped Hassan inside the box to concede a penalty. The Punjab forward struck from the spot to score his second goal and make it 3-1.

Midfield falters

The host seemed to be handicapped by a non-functional midfield. Bihar coach Krishna Nand made three changes but that hardly helped.

Punjab made it 4-1 in the 51st minute and Bihar reduced the margin in the 63rd minute through Akbar Ali.

Group A has been reduced to three teams as Maharashtra decided to pull out of the tournament.

An official note from the team said it could not get railway reservations as there was not enough time after it ensured its berth winning the West Zone qualifiers held in Vadodara.

The qualifiers ended on May 11 where Maharashtra beat Madhya Pradesh in the final. This leaves Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Bihar in the fray.

In the two group B matches, Bengal will take on Kerala and Services will meet Mizoram on Wednesday.

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