Jammu and Kashmir started with a comfortably win against Rajasthan in the opening match of the Group 1 of LG Santosh Trophy today at ESU ground, Wangkhei. Deepak Sangral's first goal in just 3 minutes from kick off gave a solid chance to win the match. The Jammu and Kashmir side was a strong side against Rajasthan from the beginning of the match. The JK teams missed two targets in the 6th and 40th minutes of the first match. The first corner of the match was in favour of Jammu and Kashmir but failed to convert it. With a goal in hand of the Jammu and Kashmir in the first half, they are keeping their rhythm of playing in the second half of the match.

Second goal of Kashmir came in the 62nd minute by a penalty kick from Rakesh Kumar. The penalty was awarded by referee Ksh Saratchandra for an obstruction by Suresh Saini of Rajasthan inside the box. Deepak Sargal added another goal in the 82nd minute of the match, while the final goal of the match was netted by Manoj Kumar in the 87th minute of the match and kept the goal margin to 4-0.

Arun Rathi (Rajasthan) and Intikhab Alam (Jammu and Kashmir) were booked caution each in the 48th and 53rd minute respectively. By defeating the autumn shower the second match started in time. Meghalaya kicked off their campaign with a win over Chandigarh in the Group 1 match. The first goal of Meghalaya came in the 10th minute of the first half from Richard Nongneng. Five minutes later from the first goal Polin Lyngdoh was booked a caution by match referee Shivajyothi Chukrabarty. Spoki Lamare netted the winning goal of Meghalaya in the 37th minute of first half.

Both teams' players did not play in the full skill, as the ground was slippery. Munish Kurnar netted lone goal of the Chandigarh in the 60th minute. As the late rising by Chandigarh, it didn't have the chance to level the Scoreboard. In another match at Mapal Kangjeibung, Assam launched their campaign for LG Santosh Trophy of Group-V with a win against Andhra Pradesh. Despite the October shower, Assam boys dominated the entire scheduled match of 90 minutes, leading 2-0 in the first half. Utpal Basumatari was the first scorer as he managed to open the flood gates in the 36th minute in spite of having several rounds of sorties near the goalpost.

Basumatari also hit another powerful grounder from the left wing near the D-box but it rebounds from the Andhra keeper Dawood Bin Mustapa. Without delay taking advantage of the rebound from the keeper Kamal Chetry of Assam converted it into another score in the 44th minute just before the whistle came. The last and winning goal of Assam came in the 92nd minute of the match that was witnessed a pronounceable crowd from Padum Brapha. However the Andhra Pradesh strikers like Khalul Rahman and Khaja Mohiddin on the other hand failed to convert even a single goal in the whole 90 minute foot battle right from the beginnings.

Assam skipper Bibska Borgoyari who played for Guwahati town club in Assam and Nabajyoti Talukdar got minor injury in today's match and they were later replaced by Probodh Gogoi and Saran Sunar in the second half of the match. "Both Bibeka and Nabajyoti are our good players,they got minor injury today " says Assam coach Ganesh Rai adding," however, I hope they will easily recover from the injury for the next match".

Mizoram defeated Madhya Pradesh 2- 1 in Group III match at Thangmeiband Athletic Union (THAU) ground while Bihar walked over Daman and Diu. Josheph Lalnoonagira opened the score account for Mizoram in the l0th minute of the match at THAU ground. With a goal in the early stage gave a comfortably mood to Mizoram. B Jonoon Sima added another goal in the 44th minute and keeps the score into four to nil at the end of the first half. The first half of the match was dominated by the Nagaland, the second half start with two goals advanced in favor of Nagaland. At the 67th minute of the match Rahman netted the only goal for Madhya Pradesh.

Bijen Singh: A whiff of fresh air