GUWAHATI, May 14 � Rookie Arunachal Pradesh held Karnataka 1-1 in a Clus ter V league match of the Santosh Trophy at Nehru Stadium here today.
In the 23rd minute Karnataka striker Kartikeyan J put his team aheah converting a spot kick. Arunachal defender Gangte Chapi handled the ball inside the box and referee Avijit Das showed no mercy to that unintentional handball.
However, Pani Raju drew parity in the 30th minute with a beautiful goal. Pani kept his cool inside the box after receiving a measured through from Chapi and gently pushed the ball home.
Young Arunachal boys showed ample promise against their fancied opponent and created several openings.
Earlier, Services trounced Uttarakhand 3-0 in the morning and virtually assured a pre-quarterfinal berth from Cluster V. In a Cluster-VIII matches at Kokrajhar Sikkim played 1-1 draw against Meghalaya while Indian Railways edged out Maharashtra 1-0.
At Bongaigaon in Cluster VII league matches Haryana blanked Tripura 2-0 while Mizoram outplayed Madhya Pradesh 8-0.
Our Nagaon Correspondent adds: Delhi recorded their second straight victory in the National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy with a comfortable 4-1 victory against Himachal Pradesh in cluster VI league match here today at Nurul Amin Stadium.
Monu Choudhary put Delhi ahead in the 36th minute through a spot kick, awarded by referee after forward Kamal Rawat was brought down by Himachal�s defender inside the box.
Midfielder Bhuvan Joshi made it 2-0 in the 45th minute.
After changing over, Rawat increased the lead to 3-0 in 53rd minute. Himachal reduced the margin to 1-3 in the 55th minute through Rakesh.
Defender Vikas Rawat completed the tally for Delhi with an easy goal in the 78th minute. Delhi will next play Orissa on May 16.
