66th Santosh Trophy - Day 11: Kerala & Manipur qualify for semifinals

The 66th edition of the National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy on its eleventh day today played matches in Group A and B of the Quarterfinal League in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar. The third and final quarterfinal league match in Group A and B were played today with Kerala and Manipur moving into the semifinals.

Former champions Kerala defeated Maharashtra to top Group A Quarterfinal round and advance to the semifinals of the 66th Santosh Trophy at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack. Maharashtra who had won their first two matches and needed only a draw to advance to the last four. They took the lead in the 8th minute through in-form striker Kailash Patil converting from the spot. But Kerala hit back only two minutes later when Surjith V.V. equalised in the 10th minute. In the second half, R. Kannan scored a brace to seal the issue for Kerala. He scored his first in the 72nd minute and then put it beyond Maharashtra's reach scoring his team’s third goal in the 81st minute. Kerala finished on seven points from three matches while Maharashtra ended on six points.

Meanwhile in the other Group A match defending champions West Bengal, who had earlier bowed out of the tournament, defeated Punjab 2-1 in their last Group League match. After Gurmeet Singh put Punjab in the lead in the 16th minute, but only a minute later Mohammed Mukhtar equalised and then Tapan Maity scored in the 87th minute to turn things around for Bengal. West Bengal finished on four points from three matches while Punjab remained pointless.

In the Group B decider at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, Manipur played a two-all draw against Goa and advanced to the semifinal piping Goa on a better goal difference. Both teams finished on seven points from three matches but Manipur moved-on by virtue of the better goal difference (+7) in comparison to Goa's (+3). For Manipur Kh. Thoi Singh scored the opener in the 19th minute which was neutralized by Goa's Gabriel Fernandes in the 26th minute. Prathesh Shirodkar put Goa ahead in the 45th minute but M. Govin Singh restored parity for Manipur in the 70th minute and sealed their passage to the semifinals.

In an inconsequential Group B match Meghalaya beat Uttar Pradesh 3-0. Ronnie McDonald Nongbri scored the first goal for Meghalaya in the 7th minute while Bansharai Sun doubled the lead in the 18th minute. Timmy Ryngkhlem scored the third goal in the 82nd minute. Meghalaya finished on three points from three matches while Uttar Pradesh lost all their group matches.


Day Eleven Results

Group-A - Cuttack
22-May-2012: Maharashtra 1-3 Kerala
[M: 8 Kailash Patil; K: 10 Surjith V.V., 72,81 R. Kannan]
22-May-2012: West Bengal 2-1 Punjab
[W: 17 Mohammed Mukhtar, 87 Tapan Maity; P: 16 Gurmeet Singh]

Group-B - Bhubaneswar
22-May-2012: Meghalaya 3-0 Uttar Pradesh
[7 Ronnie McDonald Nongbri, 18 Bansharai Sun, 82 Timmy Ryngkhlem]
22-May-2012: Manipur 2-2 Goa
[M: 19 Kh. Thoi Singh, 70 M. Govin Singh; G: 26 Gabriel Fernandes, 45 Prathesh Shirodkar]