58th National Football Championship for LG Santosh Trophy, 2002 | Oct 17 - Nov 05, Imphal - Manipur
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Santosh Trophy News
Gritty ten men Manipur ground Goan flamboyance
(The Sangai Express) 04 November 2002, 08:30 IST

Sprinting for ball possession, tackling hard and tight marking, Manipur prevented their formidable semi final opponent Goa from scoring in regulation period and prevailed in the tie-breaker to enter the final of the 58th National Football Championship.

The host team scored four goals against three by the finalists of the last edition for the final berth of the LG Santosh Trophy 2002 for the first time ever. The previous best performance of Manipur in the championship was in 1990 at Karnataka where it reached the quarter final round.

Goalkeeper H Noren, later named Most Valuable Player of the Match, flung to his right punching out the first Goa attempt by Jules Dias Alberto while the fifth attempt of Climax Lawrence ballooned over the crosspiece bringing wild celebrations all round the packed stadium.

For Manipur, captain Kh Ratan Singh opened the score with Kalyan Chaubey diving on the other side. P Kennedy, M Bijen and L James also converted their attempts while the fourth by Th Bun go flew over the top.

The miss also stopped the heartbeats and gave anxious moments to the home supporters as the one goal advantage was frittered away. Even though Goa were the better side of the re-match today - abandoned yesterday following crowd problem - Manipur players crammed their goalmouth denying manoeuvring space to the strong and skilful Alvito D' Cunha and the agile Sukhdev Arvade.

Skipper Denis Cabral also gave some nervous moments to the rival defenders with his tremendous runs down the right flank and teasing crosses into the Manipur danger zone.

Manipur on the other hand produced a determined fightback despite being reduced to ten men in the 19th minute of first half. N Uttam Singh received the marching orders after collecting two consecutive yellow cards.

The setback, however brought the fighting spirit of the team and buoyed by the vociferous backing of the supporters ran hard for ball possession.

Even though team cohesion left much to be desired the Goan strikers were held at bay to keep the score board undisturbed till the end of regulation period and thirty minutes extra time. The match also produced the very best of goalkeeper Noren who was constantly tested with some hard drives from the edge of the penalty box.

A Sukhdev Arvade and Alvito move near the marked zone was banged hard at the target only to find Noren make a diving save to his right. Besides leaving his guard to collect dipping crosses and corner kicks, Noren also denied Denis Cabral a goal in the second half, tipping over a rasping shot from near the 22 yards.

Most of Manipur's move fizzled out near the goal area due to lack of support.

Of the few attempts made by the host team, L Manitombi's attempt sailed over, I Nilakumar's shot lacked sting and L Tiken's swerving right footed drive from the left edge of the Goa box missed the target by a few inches.

Extra time was added as both sides failed to break the deadlock. With the score remaining unchanged in the 30 minute added time tie breaker was resorted to, to decide who plays defending champion Kerala on November 5.

The Goan bench presented a dejected sight with the first and last attempt going waste to gift the final berth to Manipur. Besides the red card to N Uttam, two Goa players and another host player was booked for unsporting behavior.

The Goan coach, Norbert Gonsalves questioned the frequent offside ruling by the two assistant referees.

On why his boys took to the field despite his reluctance expressed yesterday, Norbert contended that considering the interest of sports lovers of Manipur, Goa had no option other than obliging the local enthusiasts.

Dissatisfied with the team performance today, the coach attributed the slackness of the players due to sleeplessness last night. He reasoned that meeting with AIFF and organizing officials last night denied his boys rest time. His counterpart, Ch Shantikumar elated with the maiden entry to the final, lauded the fighting spirit of the players today, despite playing with only ten men for almost an hour.

Describing the performances of his players in yesterday's abandoned match as poor and lethargic, the coach said winning the final against Kerala will be tough but not impossible. The replay began under strict security arrangement with uniformed personnel seen all round the stadium and high ranking officials maintaining vigilance to check violence and rowdiness.

Musical instruments, umbrellas and other articles likely to cause harm were not allowed inside the stadium as the spectators were frisked and comb at the entrance gate.

Even then the joyous home fans burst crackers with the final attempt of Climax Lawrence ballooning over the bar. 1st IRB Bn contributed a sum of Rs 15,000 to the team for making it to the final round.

Weight lifter Sanamacha Chanu also contributed Rs 2000, MoS for Family Welfare BijoyKoijamRs 5000 to the team and another Rs 2000 to goalkeeper H Noren. Basanta Videocon also contributed Rs 1000 to H Noren.

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