Mohun Bagan U-14s winners of HP Youth Football Festival Trophy!

The first-ever 'ONGC' Himachal Pradesh Football Festival concluded yesterday with the Mohun Bagan Under-14 boys lifting the trophy in the presence of chief guest Dr. Rajiv Bindal, the General Secretary of the state BJP.

The final played under floodlights at Nahan Chaugan had a capacity crowd watching the fierce battle between Mohun Bagan AC and Odisha's Sambalpur Football Academy where the Bengal side triumphed by a 2-0 margin.

With both the teams matching each other in terms of skills and strength, the competition was fierce with both sides playing an attacking game. Satyajit Roy scored first for the young Mariners in the 30th minute to give them an edge at the break.

The change of end saw the game getting more physical with Sambalpur pushing hard for an equalizer. In the process, the Odisha side had one of its player sent-off to reduce them to 10 men. Taking advantage of the gap on the left flank, Deepankar ran across two defenders and sent in a perfect cross for Ferozuddin Mollah to slot in the second goal in the 67th minute.

Prior to the kick-off, the chief guest in his speech encourage the kids of Himachal Pradesh to take interest in the game of football as it helps the children to understand the importance of hard work and team spirit.

Mr. Bindal also said, "Himachal has taken giant strides in improving its football in a very short span of time. But the good work has to be continued as the mission has not been achieved yet. The road ahead is still very long."

He also added, "The Government is also doing everything possible to make Himachal a strong sporting state with the calibre to produce international athletes of all kinds."

To encourage people, he also reminded them about the 3 percent quota for sports persons in Government jobs.

Early in the evening famous football juggler Uttam Das treated Nahan with a rare sight of football magic. He rode around Nahan on a bike, balancing a football over his head and then he showed some of his juggling skills to mesmerize the people of Nahan.