Services are winners of the 66th Santosh Trophy

Services are champions of the 66th edition of the National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy winning 3-2 against Tamil Nadu at the Barabati Stadium, Cuttack. The tournament reached its climax today with the grand finale after being played since May 11 across Orissa in Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, Sambalpur and Baragarh.

At the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack this evening Services captain Gordon Zoramchhana lifted the trophy for the first time, Services won for the second time (the earlier victory being in 1960-61). Services midfielder Sanju Subba scored the first goal – his right footer curling away from Tamil Nadu goalkeeper Akhil Soman to bulge the net just before the break. Subrata Sarkar doubled the lead in the 49th minute while Farhad V.V. tapped it past an onrushing Akhil for Services' third goal in the 67th minute. Santa Kumar and M. Ramesh reduced the margin for Tamil Nadu in the 82nd and the 89th minute respectively.

By the time it started to drizzle midway into the first half, Services had already seized the initiative. On slippery underfoot conditions due to heavy rains before the game, Services kept possession of the ball but not being allowed the width to penetrate into the box, they stayed content in taking snap shots from outside the box. First, Captain Gordon Zoramchhana's shot dipped at the last moment to bounce off the crosspiece and then in the 17th minute, Z.V. Horin's shot found Tamil Nadu central defender Suman Raj on the way.

Tamil Nadu relied on counter-attacks and their first worth-mentioning move didn't come till the 22nd minute – Jayakumar's angular shot just going wide. Their best chance of the first half came in the 44th minute when Charles Anandraj outjumped rival central defender Rary Raj to head Nirmal Kumar's cross but Services goalkeeper A.K. Balwant thwarted it in his second attempt. But Services pressed hard and were eventually rewarded on the counter attack. Sanju Subba's powerful right-footer from just outside the box curled away from Akhil to bulge the net in the 45th minute as Services went into the interval enjoying a one-goal cushion.

Immediately after resumption, Services doubled their lead. With the drizzle still on, Z.V. Horin's grounder came out of a diving Akhil's palms and Subrata Sarkar tapped it in. Two goals within 5 minutes of play (of either half) upset Tamil Nadu's calculations. Frustrated, they tried to come out of their shell to change into an attacking mode and it further helped Services. The raid of attacks earned them their third goal – Farhad V.V. placing it in past an onrushing Akhil.

A positive on this night for coach Syed Shabir Pasha was that Tamil Nadu's young lads didn't give-up. In the 82nd minute, substitute Santa Kumar managed to reduce the margin and then M. Ramesh pulled another back in the 89th minute. But it came a bit too late otherwise it would have been a more interesting finish to the game.

After the final whistle it was party time for Services, who in the end were deserving winners in Cuttack. Captain Gordon Zoramchhana not only lifted the trophy, but also received a cheque over Rs 500,000 (5 lakhs) for the winning team.

Out of the seven entries into the final, this was Services second triumph in the 66 editions of the Santosh Trophy. For Tamil Nadu, who were runners-up in 1972-73, the wait continues after their second final loss.