58th National Football Championship for LG Santosh Trophy, 2002 | Oct 17 - Nov 05, Imphal - Manipur
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Santosh Trophy News
Contenders Bengal take on Assam in first quarter-final match
(Manipur Mail) 25 October 2002, 09:00 IST

Strong contenders Bengal take on local favorites Assam in the first quarter-final match of the 58th National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy tomorrow as Maharashtra and services fight it out in the second match of the day.

Fresh from their seven goal thrashing of Rajasthan and five-goal drubbing of Jammu & Kashmir, a charged Bengal seem unstoppable in their quest for winning the tournament with excellent coordination between their forwards and midfield.

Striker Dipendu Biswas, who scored seven goals in the two cluster matches, is in mercurial form and is likely to be the spear-head of the Bengal attack. The Bengal defence is, however, yet to be seriously tasted by the weak Rajasthan and Jammu and Kashmir outfits and have not so far conceded a single goal.

Assam is banking on the skills of striker Utpal Basumatary for an early strike and to hold on to that lead but would be quite content if they can share points with their fancied rivals in the round robin league quarter-final stage.

Assam had a good showing in the preliminary round matches beating Bihar 3-0 and overcoming Andhra Pradesh by a similar margin. The weather would be of advantage to the Assam players as it is similar to what they encounter in their state, while for Bengal it would be colder than what they are used to.

Formidable Maharashtra and services would battle it out in the second match of the day with the former having a slight edge.

Services, however, had a relatively easy run up to the quarter-finals as they humbled Uttar Pradesh by five goals and downed Sikkim by three.

Maharashtra won by a brace against Chandigarh and then managed to overcome a young and spirited Meghalaya side 3-2.

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