CRZ triumph

But the Sonepat boys, who had taken a comfortable 2-0 lead allowed the Lajpat Nagar lads to stage a remarkable recovery. Left-in Anil put them ahead in the 16th minute when his shot went through the legs of Khalsa goalkeeper Narender Singh. Early in the second session, CRZ consolidated their lead when Ram Chander dodged past a defender and pushed the ball past an onrushing Narender Singh. During the last 15 minutes of regulation period, Khalsa boys came back strongly to draw level and force the game into extra-time. Rajesh Arya scored from a solo effort in the 55th minute and then, skipper Naveen Tanwar made it 2-2 when his long-ranger was misjudged by goalkeeper Bhupinder Dahiya.

Inspired by the two goals, Khalsa boys shifted gears and the match came alive. The golden rule8217; was applied but the teams failed to break the deadlock in the 15 minutes of extra time. In the penalty shoot-out, the teams shared six goals. For CRZ, Ram Chander, Manoj and Anil found the target while Dalbir Singh and Bijender missed. For Khalsa, Naveen Tanweer, Rajinder Singh and Rajesh Arya scored while Budh Raj and Virender Rawat muffed their chances. In the sudden-death, Sunil Dahiya and Manjeet scored for CRZ while only Satyajeet converted the penalty for Khalsa. Vinod Bisht8217;s shot was saved by the diving goalkeeper.