Manipur advanced to the quarter finals at Santosh trophy
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, May 13 2011:
Manipur advanced to the quarter finals of the 65th National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy on the heroics of its goalkeeper who saved a crucial penalty in the sudden death against Kerala at Tinsukia ground today.
After normal time and penalty shoot-out failed to break the deadlock, L Premkumar thwarted the second attempt by Kerala in the sudden death to pave the way for Manipur's passage to the last eight round of the prestigious tournament.
Earlier, L Tiken missed in the tie-break while L Thoiba, L Ratan, Th Santosh and K Naoba were successful from during spot-kicks.
K Reagan and Y Hemanta also outsmarted the rival custodian in the first two sudden-death attempts, before Premkumar ensured the victory by saving the second of the rivals.
Manipur had trounced Bihar 4-1 and overwhelmed Andaman & Nicobar 12-1 in its earlier Cluster III pre-quarter final matches and today's win subsequently ensured top finish for the former champions in the Group.