CHANDIGARH: Hosts Chandigarh finally managed to open their account with a facile 2-0 victory over Himachal Pradesh in their third match of the Santosh Trophy North Zone tournament, at the Sector 7 Sports Complex on Thursday.
Playing the afternoon match of the day, the hosts started attacking from the very first minute, before Manjit Singh received a yellow card in the sixth minute. Four minutes later, the team got its first success as Gaurav Negi found the back of the net.
He handled the pass beautifully to open his team’s account. The visitors tried hard to make a comeback but could not succeed and by the end of the first half, Chandigarh held on to their slender 1-0 lead.
Chandigarh started the second half the same way as before with Shivam Pandey doubling the lead in the 47th minute. Sensing the urgency of the situation, Himachal Pradesh coach made a few changes in their desperate attempt to reduce the deficit.
Chandigarh coach Muzammil Mohammad Dar also made a couple of changes, but the eventual outcome remained the same as the defenders ensured the scorers weren’t troubled by the opposition strikers.
Chandigarh had earlier drawn matches with Jammu and Kashmir, and Uttar Pradesh. Gaurav Negi, who scored the first goal of the match, was adjudged the player of the match.
J&K, UP settle for draw
Earlier in the day, a last minute goal from Sunil Yadav helped Uttar Pradesh avoid a defeat to Jammu and Kashmir, as the match ended in a 1-1 draw at the same venue.
Jammu and Kashmir got an early lead, thanks to Aakif Javed’s brilliance but soon received a setback with a yellow card in the 41st minute. The UP side tried all tricks for the equalizer but had to be content trailing 0-1 by halftime.
In the second half, both teams made a few changes, and J&K once again got a yellow card, this time for Adil Tariq in the 78th minute. Desperate for the equalizer, the UP side eventually managed to get one in 90+1 minutes from Sunil Yadav, which helped them settle for the draw. Sunil was adjudged the player of the match.
