Maha, AP, Kar start Santosh Trophy campaign on winning note

Kolkata: Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka started their campaign on a winning note in the 64th National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy 2009-10 which began at different venues here on Thursday. In a cluster I match at Khardah Stadium, Meghalaya held Karnataka for most part of the game before Don Bosco (89th minute) scored a late goal to give the southern state a 1-0 win. Maharashtra, however, dished out a dominating performance against Chandigarh and registered a thumping 4-0 victory at the Howrah Stadium in a cluster II match. Substitute Surojit Bose, a former Mohun Bagan player, sparkled in his 33 minutes of play, scoring two goals while Reuben D`Souza and Alex Ambrose found the rival net once each to complete Chandigarh`s rout. D`Souza gave Maharashtra the lead in the 35th minute when he scored from a Paresh Shivalkar pass from the right. After the changeover, Maharashtra looked more ominous and struck thrice in nine minutes to complete the tally. Bose opened his account from a Jatin Bisht cross in the 80th minute, while he scored his second in the 89th minute. In between, Ambrose found the back of the net in the 87th minute. In another cluster II match, Andhra Pradesh scored a 2-1 victory over Tripura to occupy the second spot behind Maharashtra. Vijay Kumar and Faisal scored for Andhra, while Tripura reduced the margin through Liton Majumder. PTI