Former champion Services entered the main phase of the Santosh Trophy football tournament as it topped group B after scoring a 3-1 win over Tamil Nadu in the south zone qualifiers here on Tuesday.
On a day when it took advantage of the chances it got, Services made Tamil Nadu pay for defensive mistakes.
Arjun Tudo, Shadip Rai and Vivek Kumar scored for the winner while Tamil Nadu’s Praveendran, with an opportunistic strike, scored the only goal for Tamil Nadu in the first half.
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Sitting pretty on goal average, Tamil Nadu needed just a draw to qualify. But, it soon found itself in trouble at the start going down by a second minute goal from Tudo.
The first goal was virtually a gift as Tamil Nadu defender Wayne Antony and goalkeeper Ajmal failed to clear the high ball which was floated into the box from the right flank and an unmarked Arjun sneaked in to score with a right footer as the ball landed in front of him.
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Thereafter, Services dropped the pace preferring to sit on to its lead which enabled Tamil Nadu to regroup. A long diagonal pass from the right flank found an unmarked Sudhakar on the edge of the Services penalty area.
Sudhakar’s strike was cleared by a Services defender but the ball came to Praveendran whose on-the-turn volley found the net in the 25th minute.
The rest of the first half was uneventful expect for a booming long ranger by Services’ Francis Tulunga’s.
Tamil Nadu began dominating once the second half started but Services managed to weather the storm and went ahead in the 57th minute much against the run of play.
A counterattack from the right flank caught the Tamil Nadu defence napping and an unmarked Shadip scored from inside the box.
As Tamil Nadu pressed hard for the equaliser, another counter attack by Services resulted in the third goal. L. Mawia moved up the left flank and his cross was headed in by substitute Vivek in the 77th minute.
It was just not Tamil Nadu’s day as A. Raegan hit the post with a scorching shot in the dying minutes of the game.
The result: Services 3 (Arjun Tudo 2, Shadip Rai 57, Vivek Kumar 77) bt Tamil Nadu 1 (G. Praveendran 25).