Manipur bounced back in the second half to hold West Bengal for a 1-1 draw in the quarter-final league match of the 63rd National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy at Nehru Stadium, Chennai on Thursday.
It was Bengal outfit who started on a positive note and Lalanpuia got a chance in the first minute as he received a cross from Tarif Ahmed but the formers short went over the bar.
Four minutes later Gourango Biswas cross from right had both Tarif Ahmed and Lalanpuia inside the box but both the strikers failed to connect the ball in time. With an attacking approach right from the start Bengal drew the first blood in the ninth minute as Lalanpuia gave them the lead. The striker received a cross from Subho Kumar outside the box and he placed the ball in the far corner to give Bengal a 1-0 lead.
Bengal played a more composed game as compared to their first game against Tamil Nadu and their midfield and forwards played in tandem.
With a 1-0 lead Bengal became a bit defensive and in the 15th minute Bishweshor Singh was left unmarked but his shot was not effective enough. Four minutes later Subhash Singh crossed the ball from inside the box but Joychandra Singh failed to judge the pace of the ball as they lost the opportunity to score the equaliser.
As the match progressed Manipur started to control the game and in the 23rd minute Joychandra singh was left unmarked but his shot from outside the box sailed over the bar.
Manipur defence on the other hand were completely off colour and never marked any of the Bengal forwards allowing them to intrude into the Manipur defence at regular intervals.
Just before the half time mark West Bengal custodian Abhra Mondal was tested as he made a diving save off a Bishweshor Singh shot. The start of the second half had Manipur as a completely rejuvenated side as they had the better ball possession.
And in the 59th minute Abhra Mondal succumbed under the pressure as shot from Khanthang Paite from the right flank had Mondal failing to collect the ball and an alert
Subhash Singh tapped the ball in to score the equalizer.
Two minutes later Lalampuia took a swirling free kick but an alert Manipur custodian Basant Singh punched it to safety to defy West Bengal from taking a lead. With the game being played at the mid field area in the 87th minute Gouranga Biswas failed to get the ball past Basant Singh and Raju Mangang as the match ended with a 1-1 draw and both the teams shared a point each.
Source: the-aiff.com
From the archive. First published on footballkerala.com on Thursday 4 June 2009, restored from the site's 2012 database. Text as originally published.