January 7, 2009 2:03:38 am
A three-goal blitz in the second half saw last years winners Manipur overcome the defensive tactics of Delhi for a 3-0 win to enter the final of the 54th National School Girls U-19 football tournament at the Cooperage on Tuesday.
In the final on Wednesday,Manipur will take on Haryana,who beat Goa with a last minute goal in the other semi-final.
Knowing that Manipur will be hard to beat,Delhi adopted defensive tactics from the start,in the hope of holding their formidable opponents goalless in regulation time and forcing the tie-breaker.
They succeeded in the first half,by thwarting the defending champs but were helpless in the second against Manipurs incessant attacks.
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Manipur started the second half by mounting pressure from the word go and took the lead in the second minute with Chanchan Chanu scoring from close off Radharani Devis pass.
In the next minute M. Bijeta dribbled past three defenders and scored their second goal. Just before the end,once again Radharani Devis pass saw E. Bindyaram score with a powerful left footer.
Goa,who shocked last years runners-up Assam in a thrilling quarter-final via the tie-breaker,were unlucky to succumb to Haryana in the last minute in a match they dominated,especially in the second half.
Haryanas Preeti,who excelled with her speed and ball control,grabbed the ball from her colleague Taruna and fired a 25-yard shot to score.
Goas goalkeeper Stacy Aires,a VIIth standard student,who had brought off many saves earlier,was blocked by defender Malvita Mascarenhas and the ball rolled past her into the goal.
Results (semis): Manipur 3 (Chanchan Chanu,M.Bijeta,E. Bindyaram) beat Delhi 0; Haryana 1 (Preeti) bt Goa 0.
Quarter-finals: Haryana 3 (Taruna,Preeti,Shalu) bt Chhattisgarh 0; Goa 5 (Sujita Murgaokar,Malvita Mascarenhas,Candice Fernandes,Sabina Carvalho,Michelle Cartana) bt Assam 4 (Reboti Baruah,Phirthangpoi Hmar,Sonu Kojur,Anima Minz) via the tie-breaker. FT: 0-0; Manipur 8 (Chanchan Chanu 5,Surbala Devi,Ngoubi Devi,Nungshi Tombi) bt Uttaranchal 0; Delhi 4 (Swati Rawat,Akanksha Chibber,Niharika Topwal,Pallavi Trikha) bt Tamil Nadu 1 (Prabhavati).
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