Santosh Trophy: Ayub's lone goal seals J&K's QF berth

Hyderabad, Dec 23 Jammu and Kashmir sealed their quarterfinal spot in the 78th Senior Men’s National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy, after defeating Rajasthan 1-0 at the Deccan Arena, while Manipur thrashed hosts Telangana 3-1.

The side from the northernmost reaches of the country, with this result, are secured of a top-four finish in Group A; they end the group on seven points from five matches. Manipur, on the other hand, are secured of a second-placed finish, with 11 points from five games.

Jammu and Kashmir went into the match needing at least a draw to keep book their quarter-final spot, and managed to get all the three points in a match where they looked reasonably comfortable. Rajasthan needed to win and hope for a Manipur victory against Telangana.

The first real chance of the game fell to Mukesh Kumar of Rajasthan, who poked a low cross wide of an open goal from 10 yards in the 6th minute. It was as good as it got for them as Jammu and Kashmir slowly strangled them of possession and took control. In the 33rd minute, Aakif Javaid dribbled past a pair of defenders on the right, cut inside and unleashed a shot from the top of the box, that curved marginally wide.

The deadlock was finally broken in the 74th minute thanks to Adnan Ayub's magic. The forward picked up a loose ball 35 yards from goal, drove towards the box and let fly with his left foot. A diving Gaurav Kumar Singh could do little to stop the ball's ultimate destination. Jammu and Kashmir registered a valuable win that took them to the quarterfinals.

In the game between Manipur and Telangana, it was the former who started brighter, their inventiveness on full display as they scored the opener from a smart corner routine. A short ball was picked up on the left, where Prabin Khangebam drove a low cross into the box. Kangabam Lammgamba Singh was at hand to poke it in instinctively and give Manipur the lead.

Telangana had been down a goal multiple times in this tournament and to their credit they never looked deflated. They kept coming at Manipur and right before halftime had their just reward, when Mohammed Amaan's delightful spin and subsequent through ball was duly converted by Syed Imtiyaz Ahmed. To the shock of all Telangana were level.

Manipur were utterly dominant in the second half, in their search for a winner, one that would give them a better position on the table. A plethora of chances were created and spurned at regular intervals, their forwards seemingly incapable of finding the net. Finally, in the 85th minute, Khullakpam Zahir Khan found a way through, twisting and turning at the top of the box, and firing with his left foot into the bottom corner. Shoraisham Sagar Singh added a third minutes later to compound Telangana's agony and cement Manipur's win.

Source: IANS