SHILLONG, MARCH 25: Defending champion Mizoram entered the final of Dr T Ao Memorial Football Tournament after defeating Arunachal Pradesh by a solitary goal in the first semi-final played at JN Sports Complex here on Monday.
Mizoram will meet the winner of the second semi-final match between host Meghalaya and Manipur which is currently underway.
Much to the dismay of the majority of the Mizoram supporters in the stadium, minnows Arunachal Pradesh started off the contest in an electrifying manner. The Arunachalis not only dominated in term of ball possession, but also managed to create confusion among the Mizo boys bereft of their usual flair and consistency.
Arunachal could have gone into the lead in the 15th minute after striker Toko Polium initiated a great move from the left flank and sent a beautiful pass to Mihin Pullo, whose powerful strike was brilliantly save by Mizoram custodian J Van Lal Hriata.
The close shave appeared to have woken up the Mizoram players who started to play a more attacking game. Dominating proceedings from there on, Mizoram got an excellent oppurtunity to take the lead in the 27th minute after skipper V Laltlanpuia took a powerful strike from outside the box, but the ball went straight to the Arunachal goalkeeper Tadu Taka.
In the later part of the first half, Mizoram players continued to put pressure on the Arunachal defenders. Despite getting several opportunities to score, their strikers, however, could not capitalise and the first half ended with both the teams failing to break the deadlock.
Within minutes after the break, Mizoram could have gone into the lead after an excellent ball from the right flank found F Lalrinpuia, whose strong right footer missed the goal by a whisker. Three minutes later, Arunachal custodian made a huge blunder as he failed to collect the ball cleanly and the lurking Larinpuia got an oppurtunity to put Mizoram into the lead, but his shot hit the crossbar.
Five minutes later, Arunchal got a real opening to score after Toko Taker’s shot saw the ball sail over the crossbar. A minute later, Mizoram got another opportunity to score, but Lal Rinch Hana’s header sailed over the crossbar.
The Mizo boys persistence finally paid off when in the 74th minute subsitute Lalfawkama received a cross from the left flank and made no mistake, putting the ball into the net to give Mizoram a 1-0 lead.
With the one goal advantage, Mizoram did not allow Arunachal to come back into the match as they continued to dictate the pace of the game.
Arunachal, despite showing a lot of fighting spirit, were guilty of making a far too many errors in the second half. They failed to hold on to the ball, which meant that they were scrambling in defense for much of the session. They managed to deny Mizoram another goal, but couldn’t score one themselves. They will now fight for the third place against the loser of the scond semi-final on Tuesday. (By Our Reporter)
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