Former champion Maharashtra seemed to benefit from its strong club football base as it drubbed Chandigarh 4-0 to get off to a confident start to its cluster II campaign in the 64th senior National football championship for the Santosh Trophy at the Howrah Municipal Corporation Stadium on Thursday.
In another match of the same cluster, Andhra Pradesh warded off Tripura's challenge with a 2-1 win at the Vidyasagar Stadium in Barasat.
In the only match of the three-team cluster I, Karnataka sneaked past Meghalaya 1-0 through a late second-session goal at Khardah Stadium, to complete the day's action.
Slow start
Maharashtra made a slow start managing only a 1-0 lead in the first session. Reuben D'Souza found the mark in the 35th minute making the most of an assist from Paresh Shivalkar to give Maharashtra the vital lead before the break. Chandigarh made some good moves but lacked the consistency to challenge the might of its relatively star-studded opponent.
The second session saw the Maharashtra players getting a bit rusty in the striking zone. There was no alteration to the scoreline till late in the 80th minute, when Maharashtra started its goal barrage.
Substitute Surojit Bose, who has previously played with city teams like Mohun Bagan and Mohammedan Sporting, found the target twice. His first came off a Jatin Bisht provision in the 80th minute. Alex Ambrose made it 3-0 with a solo effort in the 87th minute before Bose found the net again to round off the scoring for Maharashtra.
Andhra Pradesh laboured to a 2-1 win over Tripura to ensure that it stayed close behind Maharashtra in the group league standings. Vijay Kumar and Faisal scored the Andhra goals while Tripura reduced the margin through Liton Majumder.
In the lone cluster I match, a spirited Meghalaya put up a good defence and took former champion Karnataka to the verge of a goalless draw. But an 89th-minute goal from Don Bosco helped Karnataka escape with full points.
