GUWAHATI, May 16 � Services topped Cluster-V with a all win record and marched into the knock-out pre-quarterfinal stage of the 65th Santosh Trophy Tournament.
In their last match of the four-team cluster, Services trounced Arunachal Pradesh 3-0 at the Nehru Stadium here today.
It was a well contested encounter where the inexperienced Arunachal Pradesh boys put up a spirited show throughout the course. They even came close to scoring on a couple of occasion and due to bad luck and lack of experience the missed the opportunities from inside the box. Tricky Services striker S Releng, who earlier played for city-based ASEB Sports Club in the GSA league, hit the target twice in the 19th and 38th minutes while K Laldingliana rounded the table with a dying minute goal.
Services frontliners got adequate support from their midfielders � Sanjay Thapa and Laldingliana � and was able to raid the Arunachal citadel quite frequently. But some smart tackling by Tapi Apa and defenders Taying Anthoni, Padi Jhony, Tarh Rajkumar foiled all the Services moves.
Along with Releng, Arjun Tudu was the man to watch in the Services front.
Rlys qualify: Indian Railways qualified for the knock-out stage from Cluster-VIII defeating Sikkim 2-0 in their last group league match at Kokrajhar. In the other match of the group, Maharashtra outplayed Meghalaya 5-1. Now Railways will travel to Bongaigaon where they will meet Tripura in the pre-quarterfinal knock-out match.
Tripura in next round: At Bongaigaon, Tripura outclassed Madhya Pradesh 5-0 in a one-sided Cluster VII match. In another encounter of the same cluster, Mizoram trounced Haryana 5-0.
Nagaon correspondent adds: Delhi entered the pre-quarterfinals defeating Orissa 6-1 here today. For Delhi, Mahendra Singh (26th, 77th mins), Bikash Rawat (53rd min), Kamal Rawat (73rd, 78th min) and Prahlad Singh Rawat (83rd min) were the scorers.
The lone goal for Orissa was netted by Sanatan Nayak (11th min). In the morning, Nagaland beat Himachal Pradesh 4-1. For Nagaland, the goals came from Khanklgng (16th min), Kevihiezo (50th and 78th mins) and Aalfred (61st min). During injury time, Rakesh scored the lone goal for Himachal Pradesh.
Today�s matches: (Guwahati) Bengal vs Chattisgarh (3.30 pm); TN vs Manipur (5.45 pm)
