Manipur regain NE soccer crown

SHILLONG, MARCH 27: Manipur regained the Dr T. Ao Memorial Football Tournament defeating defending champion Mizoram via a tie-breaker 4-3 in the title match worthy of a final at the JN Sports Complex here on Wednesday.

Both the teams were locked 1-1 in the regulation 90 minutes and 30 added minutes extra time. A costly miss by Mizoram’s skipper V Laltanpuia in the tie-breaker ensured that the coveted trophy returned to Imphal from Aizawl.

The goodly crowd was treated to an electrifying contest with both Mizoram and Manipur playing to their full potential. Manipur kicked off in style as they came close to scoring as early as the 2nd minute of the match when M Deepak took a strong right-footer that was saved brilliantly by Mizoram custodian J Van Lal Hriata.

Seven minutes later, Manipur got another opportunity to score, but striker Md Sohail’s 30-yarder missed the goal by a whisker. Manipur dictated the pace of the match in the better part of the first half with their accuracy in passing, forcing Mizoram to crowd their own half. Manipur, however, failed to capitalize on several openings. Mizoram, on their part, looked dangerous in the counter attack, but they too failed in the final quarter of the pitch.

With the majority of the crowd support behind them, Mizoram managed to break the deadlock in the 39th minute when a cross from the right flank found F Lalriinpuia who made no mistake, putting the ball into the net.

A goal down, Manipur fought very hard to get the all important equalizer till the dying minutes of the first half, but to no avail.

Taking control of the game for the major of the second half, Manipur equalized in the 76th minute when L Gogocha fired a shot home from outside the box. Five minutes later, Manipur got a golden opportunity to go into the lead, but a powerful left-footer by KH Naoton sailed over the cross bar.

Thereafter, both the teams tried very hard to go into the lead, but all their efforts went in vain and the regulation time ended 1-1.

In the extra time, Manipur striker Gogocha’s trickery almost resulted in a goal in the 13th minute of extra time. Imran Khan, too, came close to breaking the deadlock in the 17th minute of extra time, but the Mizoram goalie proved equal to the task. The stalemate remained till the end of the extra time.

In the ensuing tie-breaker, Mizoram skipper V Laltanpuia and Lalchhuantlinga missed their spot kicks, giving Manipur the crown for the third time.

Meghalaya striker Niwan-O-Gatphoh emerged as the top scorer of the tournament while Manipur defender T Ajith Singh was declared the best player of the meet. (By Our Reporter)