66th Santosh Trophy - Day 12: Services & Tamil Nadu qualify for semifinals

The 66th edition of the National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy on its twelweth day today played matches in Group C and D of the Quarterfinal League in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar. Hosts Orissa are out of the tournament as Services and Tamil Nadu progress to the semifinals.

Services came back from behind to hold hosts Orissa 1-1 and in the process top Group C to qualify for the semifinal. Services play Kerala in the first semifinal on May 25. At Cuttack's Barabati Stadium, Orissa surged into the lead when Gokul Oram converted from the spot in the 33rd minute. But Services came back strongly in the second half to level proceedings when Gordon Zoramchhana equalised in the 55th minute. Services finished with seven points while Orissa ended on five points.

In an inconsequential match Haryana rode on Abhisek's hattrick to breeze past Chattisgarh 6-1. Besides Abhisek, Devendra, Ajay and Habib scored one goal each, while K. Paveen reduced the margin for Chattisgarh. Haryana finished in third spot in Group C with four points while Chattisgarh couldn't open their account.

Tamil Nadu played out a goalless draw against Railways in their last Quarterfinal Group D League match to advance to the semifinals in the 66th Santosh Trophy. Tamil Nadu topped Group D and ended with seven points while Railways came second with five points. Tamil Nadu now play Manipur in the second semifinal on May 26.

In the other Group D match, Delhi blanked decimated Mizoram 3-0 to finish on three points while Mizoram ended on point. For Delhi, Mahendra Singh scored in the 53rd minute while Dhiraj Singh and Kamson Kabui scored one apiece in the 78th and the 87th minute respectively.


Day Twelve Results

Group-C - Cuttack
23-May-2012: Haryana 6-1 Chhattisgarh
[H: 5,67,83 Abhisek, 37 Habib Khan, 45 Ajay, 53 Devender; C: 54 K. Praveen]
23-May-2012: Orissa 1-1 Services
[O: 33 Gokul Oram (pen); S: 55 Gordon Zoramchhana]

Group-D - Bhubaneswar
23-May-2012: Mizoram 0-3 Delhi
[53 Mahendra Singh, 78 Dhiraj Singh, 87 Kamson Kabui]
23-May-2012: Railways 0-0 Tamil Nadu