Bengal and Punjab registered contrasting wins over their respective opponents to set up a summit clash in 64th National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy at floodlit Yuba Bharati Krirangan here.
|Last Updated: Aug 07, 2010, 12:09 AM IST|Source: Bureau
Kolkata: Hosts Bengal and Punjab today registered contrasting wins over their respective opponents to set up a summit clash in 64th National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy at floodlit Yuba Bharati Krirangan here.
While Bengal, champions for 29 times, exorcised the ghosts of the past pulling off a 5-4 (1-1) victory over their last year’s nemesis Goa via penalty shootout.
In contrast, eight-time champions Punjab dominated right from the start to register a comfortable 3-1 win over a listless Tamil Nadu.
In the first semifinal of the day, holders Goa began their title defence positively taking a 20th minute lead through Milagres Gonsalves but Bengal equalised through Robin Singh’s in the 83rd minute.
In the penalty shootout, Bengal bounced back from 0-2 down and went on to clinch 4-3 with goals by captain Snehashish Chakraborty, Souvik Chowdhury, Sheikh Azim and Denson Devadas who scored the winner by taking the fifth penalty.
In the second semifinal, Balwant Singh struck twice (16th and 56th) while Maninder Singh scored once in the 35th to oust Tamil Nadu who scored a consolation goal through substitute M Elamurugan in 90+3rd minute.
Tamil Nadu were jolted in the 16th minute when Balwant Singh’s clinical header from Amandeep Singh’s cross gave Punjab the lead.
Maninder Singh took advantage of a TN defensive lapse in the 35th minute and struck with a powerful rightfooter.
After the break, Balwant received a Parveen Kumar cross and found the back of TN net for his second goal.
Tamil Nadu earned a late goal in the injury time when Elamurugan scored from a rebound to reduce the margin.
Bengal and Punjab had met in 2006-07 in the Santosh Trophy final with the northern state winning via tie-breaker.
Bengal also lost to Goa in the summit clash last year in Chennai in a similar fashion - via penalty shootout.
On Friday, the hosts struggled against Goa before making a turnaround in the shootout.
Already missing their key striker Shankar Oraon, the home side got a rude jolt when their makeshift forward Nilendra Dewan was injured as early as seventh minute.
In a goalmouth tackle by Denzil Branco, Dewan sustained an injury and had to be replaced by Robin Singh.
Bengal struggled badly up front with the erratic duo of Tariff Ahmed and Robin making things more difficult.
Goa took the lead in the 20th minute as Milagres headed home following a Godwin Franco corner.
Bengal got their best chance in the 45th minute when an unmarked Ahmed failed to head before an open net from a freekick by Jayanta Sen.
Bengal almost conceded a goal two minutes later but substitute Cavin Lobo missed the target.
From thereon, it was a series of missed passes and missed chances with Ahmed and Robin muffing at least two easy chances.
Skipper Snehashish Chakraborty, Jayanta Sen were impressive in giving the supply but poor coordination from Robin and Ahmed did not help in bringing Bengal’s equaliser.
But it was Robin who made amends for his poor form, bringing Bengal back on track with the equaliser seven minutes before the final whistle.
Robin scored from a left side attack initiated by R Dhanarajan as the tall striker sneaked through the Goan defence to make it 1-1 and take the match to extra-time.
Shabbir Ali’s boys upped the ante and put pressure on the reigning champions but could not score the winner.
In the shootout, Bengal missed their first attempt with Goa custodian and captain Felix D’Souza saving Rajiv Ghosh’s shot.
But Bengal did not give up with goalkeeper Abhra Mondal, playing in his first match, remained undeterred to hand Bengal a fabulous win.
Godwin Franco, Cavin Lobo and Adil Khan converted Goa’s first three penalty shots but John Dias hit the post, while Bengal goalkeeper Abhra Mondal saved Nicolas Rodrigues fifth attempt for the victory.
Having fired blank in their first try by Rajiv, Bengal scored through Snehashish Chakraborty, Souvik Chakraborty, Sheikh Azim and Denson Devadas for a 4-3 win in the shootout.
PTI
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts.
Cookies Setting
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device and the processing of information obtained via those cookies (including about your preferences, device and online activity) by us and our commercial partners to enhance site navigation, personalise ads, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. More information can be found in our Cookies and Privacy Policy. You can amend your cookie settings to reject non-essential cookies by clicking Cookie Settings below.
Manage Consent Preferences
Strictly Necessary Cookies
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work or you may not be able to login.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then some or all of these services may not function properly.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They are also used to limit the number of times you see an advert as well as help measure the effectiveness of an advertising campaign. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we may not know when you have visited our site, and may not be able to monitor its performance.