GUWAHATI, May 19 � Chattishgarh turned the tables on Tamil Nadu in a Group A Santosh Trophy quarterfinal league match at the Nehru Stadium here today.
Playing a decent game, Chattishgarh defeated Tamil Nadu 3-2 leading 3-1 at the break.
Chattishgarh midfielder Guman Shrestha drew first blood in the 26th minute off a counter attack. The goal was scored against the run of play as Tamil Nadu frontliners M Ramesh, S Fredy were troubling the Chattishgarh defenders till the first goal was scored.
After the goal, the Chattishgarh players got back their confidence and started raiding the opponent�s goal area with renewed vigour. But a beautiful equaliser in the 31st minute by Ramesh brought life back to the game.
Chattishgarh star striker Azad Ali beat Tamil Nadu custodian A Arun Pradeep with a chip shot at the far corner to make it 2-1.
Before the break, Chattishgarh took a commendable 3-1 lead. Anticipating a measured through sent by Reuben Zosang Puia, Washim Raja beat all the opponent defenders with his speed and pushed home in the 39th minute.
Returning from the break, Tamil Nadu tried to make a comeback by reducing the margin in the 47th minute. It was a soft goal as S Sanjha Kumar�s feeble shot beat unattentive Chattishgarh goalkeeper Nitesh Murthy at the far post.
The reducer was not enough for Tamil Nadu as in the remaining part of the match Chattishgarh defenders managed to keep their goal intact.
Manipur hold fancied Bengal 2-2: Making a tremendous fightback, Manipur rallied to hold defending champions Bengal 2-2 in a quarterfinal league match of the 65th Senior National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy.
Under lights at the Nehru Stadium here this evening, both the teams displayed better brand of football and the ball swang from one end to another quite frequently.
Branco Vincent and Bikash Narzinary scored for Bengal in the 18th and 31st minutes respectively. For Manipur, L Nanba Chandra Singh (69th minute) and substitute S Herojit Singh (81st minute) netted one each.
Manipur were not in the same form which they had against Tamil Nadu initially. Their striking force, studded with L Tikan Singh and I Nilkumar Singh hardly could do anything against the well organised Bengal defence.
Bengal were reduced to a 10-man brigade in the 42nd minute when referee Jeapaul Fernando of Tamil Nadu sent Bengal medio Mumtaz Akhtar off for using abusive language. But despite playing with one man short experienced Bengal players continued their domination in the second session. Today�s matches: Punjab vs Services at 3.30 pm, Goa vs Railways at 5.45 pm.
