New Delhi: The first phase of Junior Boys (Under-17) section of the 56th Subroto Cup International Football Tournament came to an end today with Little Angels Paradise School, Wangbal (Manipur), Betkuchi High School, Sawkuchi (Guwahati) and Mawsura RC Uper Primary School, Nongstoin (Meghalaya) joining Army Boys Sports Company in the quarterfinals.
In what has turned out to be northeastern teams’ quarterfinals, Army Boys Sports Company will take on Little Angels in the first, followed by Betkuchi High School locking horns with Mawsura RC Upper Primary School at the Ambedkar Stadium on Tuesday, after a rest day tomorrow.
In Pool A, Maharana Pratap Sports College (Uttarakhand) defeated Tamil Nadu 6-1 to finish their engagements with the former having an upper hand. Vipul scored a brace in the fourth and 23 rd minute while contributions came from Aman, Subham, Sachin and Ankul. For Tamil Nadu, the lone goal-getter was N. Subasubramanyam, who scored in the 21st minute.
In the second match in the pool, MSP Higher Secondary School from Mallapuram (Kerala) thrashed Gujarat’s St. Xavier High School, Loyala, 7-0 to complete the pool task. This was, incidentally, the best win for the Kerala boys as Ahmedabad rivals proved to be a mismatch.
But the interesting feature of the match was that Kerala, who treaded their path with unnecessary caution, scored three goals in the first session but picked up momentum in the second to score four against the hapless Gujarat side. Sajjad who opened the scoring in the third minute of the match added one more to his tally after second half while Rahul, Rizwan, Arjun, Shahzad and Gifty rounded it off with a goal each.
In Pool B, Manipur’s Little Angels Paradise School defeated Air Force Bal Bharti School 1-0 with Francis scoring the lone goal for the winners. In another match, 2 Maharashtra BN NCC scored five times without any reply from the Indian Railways. Rohit scored two goals while Kamran and Altaf contributed. The BKSP from Bangladesh scored a 6-1 win over Sainik School from Uttarakhand in another league game in the same pool. Murad scored three goals while Arafat two for the winners while Sainik School scored once.
Assam’s Betkuchi High School proving to be a thorn in the flesh of their rivals in Pool C and, it was no different today when they took on Mizoram’s Government Bazaar High School, Lunglei. The Assam squad defeated Mizoram with a second minute goal from Madhujya and went on to defend stoutly even as the Bazaar High School made several attempts, including a couple which looked like getting them the equaliser.
Central Pendam Senior Secondary School from Sikkim beat Maharashtra’s Father Agnel Multipurpose School and Junior College 3-1. For the winners, all the goals came in the second session when Bhaichung, Hangsen and Amrit scored a goal each. Even the Maharashtra side scored their consolation goal through Dinesh in two minutes from time.
As for the Car Nicobar’s Government School from Malacca, it was a difficult task for them against Sports Authority of India (Salt Lake) as the latter won 11-1. Chandra Mohan scored the maximum of three goals for the winners while Nirmal and Suman (two each), Chanda Muruli, Abhjit, Akash and Fakira scored. For Car Nicobar K.R. Paul struck the lone goal when he opened the proceedings for both teams in the eighth minute. After that the Malacca squad went silent as the entire action originated from the other side.
In Pool D, Mamta Modern Senior Secondary boys were stopped on their tracks as Odisha’s Town High School won 4-3. The tough match saw the Vikas Puri boys unable to pin down the day scoring three goals, all in the second half. This was despite Mayank put Mamta Modern in lead after Bijoy opened the proceedings for Odisha in the seventh minute.
Mayank scored in the 20th and 23rd to sit pretty at 2-1 when the teams went for a brether. On return, Ajit scored twice (45, 53) for a 3-1 lead by Odisha but Nishant found the target in the 58th minute to be on part. However, Ajit scored nine minutes from time to seal the fate of Delhi school.
The Shri Ram School Delhi NCR beat Daman & Diu’s outfit, Government Higher Secondary School 2-1 in an inconsequential match. For Dlehi Pratyush and Ritwik scored while Raj reduced the margin. In another match in the poll, Meghalaya’s Mawsura RC Upper Primary School beat West Bengal’s Rajganj MN High School 2-0. Andyson and Jovianstar scored for the winners.
