66th Santosh Trophy - Day 10: Tamil Nadu beat Mizoram in thriller

The 66th edition of the National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy on its tenth day today played matches in Group C and D of the Quarterfinal League in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar.

The hosts Orissa were held to a one-all draw by Haryana. Abhisek gave Haryana an early 8th minute lead but Antu Murmu equalised for the hosts in the 44th minute with the remaining at 1-1 until the end. Orissa move to four points from two matches while Haryana are on one point from two matches.

Services were on a goal-scoring spree when they thumped Chhattisgarh 6-0 in their second match of the Quarterfinal Group C match at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack. For Services, Farhad V.V. scored a hattrick (4th,33rd,75th minute) while Thyagarajan scored a brace (62nd and 90th). Z. Horin completed the rout in the 44th minute. With this victory, Services move to the top of Group C with six points from two matches, while Chhattisgarh remain pointless.

In a thrilling Group D quarterfinal clash at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, Tamil Nadu rallied to beat Mizoram 4-3. Mizoram were up 2-0 by the 22nd minute through two F. Lalrinpuia (2nd and 22nd) goals, but Tamil Nadu turned things around first with Charles Anandraj scoring in the 38th minute and then a double strike from U. Jayakumar in the 49th and 78th minute. Mizoram came back to equalise two minutes from time through Lalbiakhlua, but M. Ramesh scored the winner in the second minute of injury time for Tamil Nadu. But the match was marred by controversy as in the second session as handball decision led to on-field violence with three Mizoram players and two from Tamil Nadu send-off. Courtesy the victory, Tamil Nadu move to six points from two matches while Mizoram stay on one point.

In another Group D match, Railways scraped past Delhi 2-1. After a barren first half, Lalmohan Hansda put Railways in the lead in the 82nd minute only for Vikash Rawat to restore parity in the 84th minute. Railway's Gurpreet Singh sealed the fate of the match in the 86th minute. Railways move to four points from two matches while Delhi are yet to open their account.


Day Ten Results

Group-C - Cuttack
21-May-2012: Haryana 1-1 Orissa
[H: 8 Abhisek; O: 44 Antu Murmu]
21-May-2012: Chhattisgarh 0-6 Services
[4,33,75 Farhad V.V., 44 Z. Horin, 62,90 Thyagarajan]

Group-D - Bhubaneswar
21-May-2012: Delhi 1-2 Railways
[D: 84 Vikash Rawat; R: 82 Lalmohan Hansda, 86 Gurpreet Singh]
21-May-2012: Mizoram 3-4 Tamil Nadu
[M: 2,22 F. Lalrinpuia, 88 Lalbiakhlua; T: 38 Charles Anandraj, 49,78 U. Jayakumar, 90+2 M. Ramesh]