Santosh Trophy round-up: Rajasthan, West Bengal book berths in final rounds

New Delhi, Nov 20 (IANS): Hosts Rajasthan qualified for the final rounds of the 78th National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy from Group I after earning full points in their concluding tie against Dadra Nagar Haveli & Daman and Diu with a 4-0 triumph, on Wednesday.

Played at the Royal FC Stadium, Rajasthan led by a solitary goal in the first half and slammed in three more after the change of ends. Altaf Hussain, Vishal Kaloshiya, Imran Khan and Yash Sahani were the scorers. Rajasthan finished on top of the group with seven points.

In the other match, Maharashtra and Gujarat played out a goalless draw to bow out of the competition.

West Bengal qualified for the final rounds from Group C despite a goalless draw against Bihar in their third and concluding tie at the Kalyani Stadium. They finished with seven points.

In the other match of the same group, Uttar Pradesh ended their campaign with a 2-1 win over Jharkhand. Mohammed Tauseef proved the trump card for UP scoring both goals. Rohit Tigga was the scorer for Jharkhand. Seven-time champions Kerala scored an important win on the opening day of Group H when they defeated strong contenders Railways by a solitary goal at the EMS Corporation Stadium. Substitute striker Muhammad Ajsal scored the all-important goal in the 72nd minute.

The other match of the day saw Pondicherry getting the better of Lakshadweep 3-2. Dhilipan K. was the brain behind Pondicherry's win with a fine hat-trick, while Mohammed scored both goals for Lakshadweep.

Former champions Punjab went down to Jammu and Kashmir 0-1 in Group A at the GNDU Sports Complex. Adnan Ayub netted the only goal of the match in the 50th minute. In the other match, Ladakh edged Himachal Pradesh 2-1 thanks to goals by Abid Ali (42’), and Stanzin Jigmet (84’). Harsh Kumar (45+1) equalised for Himachal after Ladakh took the lead in the first half.

It wasn’t exactly a promising start to the campaign for hosts Assam in Group E as they went down to Nagaland 2-1 at the Deshbhakta Maidan, Mukalmua.

Nagaland were quick to grab the advantage as they took the lead through S. Ayenmongba in the sixth minute. They were up by two goals by the 13th minute as Nisede Peseyie found the net. In the second half, Assam pulled one back when Dipu Mirdha scored off a penalty kick in the 57th minute, but that was all they could do.

The match between Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh was a closely contested one, with the former winning 4-3 in the end.

After Overkindness L. Mawnai put Meghalaya in the lead in the eighth minute, Arunachal Pradesh hit back to take a 3-1 lead through goals from Omang Dodum (15’), Tagru James (54’) and Tarh Dolu. But they couldn’t save the day as two penalty conversions by Fullmoon Mukhim (63’, 83’) and Malkovich Khongriah (65’) helped Meghalaya return to the dressing room with full points.