Railways 3 (Dipankar Das – 19th, Sushil Kisku – 84rd, Rajesh S – 85th)
beat
Goa 0
By Debayan Mukherjee,
AIFF Media Team
SILIGURI: Railways will play Maharashtra in the second semifinal of the 68th National Championships for Santosh Trophy after they trounced Maharashtra 3-0 in a virtual Group B knockout clash here at the floodlit Kanchenjunga Stadium in Siliguri on Wednesday (March 5, 2014).
Goals either side of halftime from Dipankar Das, substitute Sushil Kisku and Rajesh S sealed the case for the three-time champions who last reached this far in 2011 where they lost to West Bengal in the last-four stage.
Kistu also saw his spot kick saved by Goa goalkeeper Regan Julio in the dying minutes of the encounter. Both Railways and Goa were denied by the framework twice.
Railways started the match strongly and were justly rewarded in the 19th minute when central midfielder Dipankar Das climbed tallest to head home left-back Chayaram Basumatary’s in swinging corner.
Trailing by a goal, Goa upped the ante only to be denied by the framework four minutes later. Agnelo Colaco’s freekick cannoned back off the post and was cleared out of danger by the rival defense. At the stroke of halftime Railways’ striker PC Riju was also denied by the woodwork after some good work in the middle of the park.
Railways put the match beyond doubt in a frenetic last ten minutes of the second half.
First Kisku converted from a tight angle moments after coming off the bench and within a minute it was Rajesh’s turn to get on the scoresheet as he stabbed home from close.
Things worsened for Goa when Anil Kisku was felled inside the area by a rival defender but custodian Juliano gave his side some respite, saving expertly from Sushil’s spot kick.
In the first match of the day, West Bengal registered their win in the Final Round edging semifinalists Tamil Nadu by a solitary goal.
Sisir Ghosh’s boys – who have been disappointing throughout the campaign managing just two points from their previous three outings – made Tamil Nadu pay for their profligacy in front of goal as striker Nilkanta Paria spun inside the box to drill home a 88th minute-winner.
The result pushed CM Ranjith’s Tamil Nadu from pole position to the second place in the pecking order. They now face high-flying Mizoram in the first SemiFinal on Friday.
Bengal on the other hand finished fourth in Group B with 5 points from 4 matches.
Both the SemiFinals will be telecast LIVE on DD Sports.
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