Delhi forces Services to wait for semi-final spot with injury-time equaliser

Manipur captain Singam Subash Singh (white jersey, No. 10) was the star of the game against West Bengal. He scored one goal and had a hand in the other goals too. Photo: AIFF
| Photo Credit: AIFF

Manipur captain Singam Subash Singh (white jersey, No. 10) was the star of the game against West Bengal. He scored one goal and had a hand in the other goals too. Photo: AIFF
| Photo Credit:
AIFF

After a shocking loss to Meghalaya in its previous game, Manipur recovered nicely to thrash West Bengal 4-1 in a Group ‘B’ match of the 76 ^th Santosh Trophy National football championship in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday.

Delhi had done Manipur a favour earlier in the day by forcing group leader Services to a 1-1 draw with an injury time equaliser. That late equaliser made Services wait for its semifinal spot and left the battle for Riyadh (where the semifinals and final will be played) open.

And with Railways holding Meghalaya goalless, Manipur’s chances of entering the semifinal improved for it has now climbed to the second spot in the six-team group with six points, one point behind group leader Services after three matches.

Manipur’s star of the show was its captain Singam Subash Singh who scored a goal and had a hand in the team’s other goals too.

Meanwhile, the high-flying Services took the lead midway through the first half through midfielder Christopher Kamei and just when it thought it had wrapped up the match came the equaliser, an own goal from defender P.P. Shafeel in the third minute of injury time, that saw the team share points with Delhi. A win today would have made Services the first team to enter the semifinal.

The results (Group B) Manipur 4 (Naoba Meitei 11, Subash Singh 37, Biswajit Hembrom 81-og, Naocha Singh 90+4) bt Bengal 1 (Souvik Kar 54).

Services 1 (Christopher Kamei 21-p) drew with Delhi 1 (P.P. Shafeel 90+3-OG).

Meghalaya 0 drew with Railways 0.