In a keenly contested battle between Punjab and Manipur in the quarter final match of the 63rd National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy, Manipur defeated Punjab 2-1 at the Nehru Stadium, Chennai on Tuesday.
Both the teams played an aggressive game right from the start and both the custodians were kept busy under the bar. It was Manipur who were more dominant and had better control of the game in the first half.
Manipur got many chances early on but their strikers failed to get their acts together. In the 3rd minute Bishweshor Singh had a shot at the Punjab den but it was an alert Punjab custodian Karanjit Singh who defied Manipur from taking the lead early on. In the 13th minute Manipur got their second chance as Subhash Singh cross from the right had Joychandra unmarked inside the box but the latter shot over the bar.
In the 21st minute Vashum was left unmarked and he paved his way from right flank to just top of the box but his powerful left footer was saved by Punjab custodian Karanjit Singh. Three minutes later Subhash Singh header went over the bar.
But it was Punjab who drew the first blood as Balwant Singh was left unmarked inside the box and a cross from right flank was headed well by the striker to give his team a 1-0 lead.
Three minutes Manipur scored the equaliser as a left footer from Raju Mangarg deflected off Punjab defender Sarbjeet’s foot that left Karanjit Singh diving in vain. With scores leveled both the teams tried hard to take the lead but failed. Just before the match entered into the lemon break Subhash Singh made some good move from the right flank but his chip from outside the box missed the back of the net by a whisker as the first half ended with the scorecard reading 1-1.
The start of the second half was no different as Manipur started the second half on an attacking note and within three minutes they took the lead. Paite’s left footer deflected off Karanjit Singh and Subhash Singh got the ball past Karanjit to give his team a 2-1 lead.
Punjab immediately got their acts together and in the 51st minute a cross from Rakesh Masih had PH Boy Singh shooting it well but was off target. The team from North tried hard to score the equalizer but they were not lucky as their attempts were either blocked by Manipur custodian Basant Singh or were off target.
With a 2-1 lead Manipur played a composed game and became a bit defensive. In the 78th minute Rohit headed the ball in but Basant Singh was alert enough to punch it to safety to defy Punjab from scoring the equalizer and help his team win the match.
From the archive. First published on footballkerala.com on Tuesday 2 June 2009, restored from the site's 2012 database. Text as originally published.