Punjab pips Nagaland in a close encounter

Former champion Punjab overcame Nagaland 1-0 in the 64th senior National football football championship for the Santosh Trophy.

Playing at the Khardah Stadium in the cluster III league encounter on Sunday, Punjab found an early lead and managed to preserve it successfully warding off repeated efforts from the opposition.

In another cluster III match, Puducherry picked up its first points beating Gujarat by the odd goal in three.

And in the lone cluster IV match of the day, Rajasthan shocked a strong Jammu & Kashmir by a solitary goal to end its campaign on a winning note.

Tough challenge

Punjab faced a tough challenge against its North-East opponent. Punjab – the 2008 champion – started in right earnest and found the goal off its JCT Mills forward Balwant Singh in the ninth minute.

Despite getting its opponent on the backfoot on more occasions than one, Nagaland struggled in the striking zone to allow Punjab escape with full points.

Punjab reached the top of the cluster standings tallying six points from successive wins and has almost ensured its passage into the pre-quarterfinal stage.

In another match in the same group, Puducherry rebounded from a 0-7 first round defeat against Punjab with a 2-1 win against Gujarat at the Vidyasagar Stadium, Barasat.

Puducherry took the lead when Vinod Kumar found the target in the 19th minute. But Gujarat found the equaliser in the 40th minute with Dipesh Pun striking from a distance.

Puducherry fought with a renewed initiative in the second session and regained the lead when Manikandan found the net in the 73rd minute.

Rajasthan stuns J&K

Rajasthan, which suffered a 13-0 humiliation against Manipur in its opening match, stunned Jammu and Kashmir 1-0 to end its three-team cluster IV campaign positively.

Rahul Gajjar found the mark in the 83rd minute to give Rajasthan the winning goal. .