Himachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Karnataka registered victories while Delhi and Haryana were held to goalless draws by their opponents in the 62nd National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy here today.Himachal Pradesh opened their account in the championship with a 4-2 victory over Daman and Diu in the first match of the day played at the Bakshi Stadium here. Himachal dominated the first half and led 3-0 at the breather, only to allow their opponents to come back in the second session by conceding two goals.However, Himachal forwards carried out repeated attacks and met with success in the dying minutes of the match to walk away with full points. Mizoram overcame stiff resistance from Chhattisgarh and scored a facile 2-1 win. Mizoram played attacking football from the beginning but had to wait till the 35th minute to open account. They doubled their lead just after the change of sides but Chhattisgarh reduced the margin later on.Karnataka captain Xavier Vijaykumar scored a brace (11th and 86th minutes) to give his side a 2-1 victory over Jharkhand at the polo ground. Karnataka should have won by a 2-0 victory margin had not defender Jai Kumar made a blunder in the 77th minute. He tackled the onrushing Monirul Mondal and headed towards goalkeeper Gumpe Rime, who missed it and the ball went into the net (2-1).In other matches, Delhi were held to a goalless draw by Gujarat despite being the better team while Haryana and Madhya Pradesh played out an unexciting draw.
