Uttarakhand bounced back from behind as they held Sikkim to a 2-2 draw in their cluster VI match of the 63rd National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy, at Thiruvallore, on Wednesday.
The start of the match saw both the teams playing an attacking game and Sikkim drew first blood in the 21st minute as a powerful 25 yarder shot from Sanju Pradhan went past Uttarakhand custodian Virender Yadav to give them a 1-0 lead.
Uttarakhand tried hard to score the equalizer but all their attempts went in vain as an alert Sikkim custodian Karma Lepcha saved them on couple of occasions. But they were paid for their hardwork as in injury time of the first half as a free kick from Jatin Singh Bisht found the far post to score the equalizer just before the half time.
With scores leveled in the first half, the start of the second half was also interesting. Within two minutes Sanju Pradhan was brought down and Sikkim were awarded a penalty which the striker used well to give his team a 2-1 lead.
But their happiness was short lived Deepak Kandari scored the equalizer in the 62nd minute after he received a cross from right flank just outside the penalty box and his shot found the back of the net.
With scores leveled again both the teams tied hard but failed to take the lead and as a result the match ended in 2-2 draw with both the teams sharing a point each.
Sorce: the-aiff.com
From the archive. First published on footballkerala.com on Wednesday 27 May 2009, restored from the site's 2012 database. Text as originally published.