Seven goals and five red cards described the action as a nine-man Tamil Nadu got the better of eight-man Mizoram 4-3 in a violence marred Group-D match of the 66th National football championship for the Santosh Trophy on Monday.
In one of the worst incidents of on-field violence in the history of the tournament, the bruising scrap between the two teams degenerated into a kick-boxing fest bringing up ugly scenes of loathing and detestation, which the sport always strives to eliminate.
The violence overshadowed the fine comeback Tamil Nadu made in erasing a two-goal deficit before it wrapped up the win.
The match was stopped for around eight minutes following the free-for-all, which started after Mizoram defender Lalchhawnkima was shown the red card for handling Charles Anandraj's freekick in the 69th minute.
The Mizoram defender slapped the Tamil Nadu midfielder V.R. Murugappan as he walked out of the field sparking off the fight between the two teams.
Tamil Nadu lost Murugappan and defender R. Naveen Kumar, who were hauled up for retaliating, while and Mizoram saw midfielder Lalrinfela and F. Lalrinpuia sent off for taking the fight ahead.
After normalcy was restored and the field cleared of the ‘perpetrators' of violence, Tamil Nadu found the lead just to see it neutralised by a resolute Mizoram (3-3) around the death.
Pushing all its players into attack Tamil Nadu found the winner in the injury-time to ensure the full three points and brighten its chances for the semifinal.
For Tamil Nadu, U. Jayakumar scored two goals while Charles Anandraj and substitute M. Ramesh struck one apiece.
Mizoram established a two-goal lead as its striker F. Lalrinpuia found the net twice.
After Tamil Nadu had scripted the excellent comeback late in the second half, Mizoram scored another one in the 88th minute through Lalbiaklua.
Tamil Nadu started disastrously conceding a goal in the second minute as its defender K. Sathish's half-hearted back-pass intended for the goalkeeper, Rajini Kumar, was intercepted and scored by Lalrinpuia.
The Mizoram striker found the net again in 22nd minute off fine header.
Turnaround
Charles Anandraj effected the turnaround for Tamil Nadu with an opportunistic goal in the 38th minute when he nodded home a long throw from his midfield colleague S. John Paul.
Tamil Nadu came back stronger after the break and restored parity when its young striker Jayakumar, nodded home a cross from Ramesh.
Tamil Nadu pressed for the winner and earned a freekick in the 69th minute close to the Mizoram box.
The match changed hereafter as Lalchhawnkima got the first red card from referee Satyajit Debroy of Tripura for handling a rasping shot from Anandraj.
Jayakumar found the net once again to take Tamil Nadu into lead in the 78th minute before Lalbiaklua made it 3-3 with a solo effort in the 88th minute. Seasoned Ramesh fetched the winner moments from the final whistle to ensure the win for Tamil Nadu.
In the group C match at Cuttack, host Odisha was held to a 1-1 draw by Haryana.
Railways in hunt
A 10-man Railways got past Delhi 2-1 to keep the contest alive in Group D.
Three goals came in a span of six minutes in the final 10 minutes of the match, which was the only point of interest in a generally insipid encounter.
Lalmohan Hansda put Railways ahead in the 82nd minute before Vikas Rawat equalised for Delhi in the 84th minute.
Railways lost P.C. Riju just after Delhi's equaliser, as the striker was shown a red card (double caution) for showing dissent. Gurpreet Singh scored directly from a free-kick in the 86th minute to ensure the win for Railways.
Railways picked up its first win to tally four points, but remained behind Tamil Nadu, which is on top with six points. Tamil Nadu now needs a draw against Railways in the last group match on Wednesday to seal a place in the semifinals. Mizoram (1 point) and Delhi (0) are out of the tournament.
In the other Group C match at Cuttack, Services rode on V.V. Farhad's hat-trick to trounce Chhattisgarh 6-0.
Services, which had drubbed Haryana 4-0 in the first round, remained at the top of the group league with six points.
It now needs a draw against host Orissa (four points) in the last round to qualify for the semifinals. Haryana (1 point) and Chhattisgarh (0) are out of the contest.
The results : Group C : Haryana 1 (Abhishek 8) drew with Odisha 1 (Antu Murmu); Services 6 (V.V. Farhad 4, 33, 75, Z.V. Horin 44, Thiyagarajan 62, 90) bt Chhattisgarh 0.
Group D : Tamil Nadu 4 (Charles Anandraj 38, U. Jayakumar 49, 78, M. Ramesh 90+2) bt Mizoram 3 (F. Lalrinpuia 2, 22, Lalbiaklua 88); Railways 2 (Lalmohan Hansda 82, Gurpreet Singh 86) bt Delhi 1 (Vikas Rawat 84).
