Date:24/11/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/11/24/stories/2007112456701900.htm

Sport - Football

Haryana scrapes past Bihar

Principal Correspondent

GURGAON: Mandeep scored a late equaliser before Jatanveer struck the winning goal to save Haryana the blushes against Bihar as the host confirmed its place in the semifinals of the 44th junior National football championship here on Friday.

Joining Haryana in the semifinals was defending champion Jharkhand and traditional powerhouse Bengal. The fourth place will be decided between Assam and Orissa in the super league group B.

Bihar gave Haryana a scare before the host pulled itself out of the mess and won 4-3.

Tudu on song

Arjun Tudu opened the scoring for Bihar in the 17th minute before Haryana equalised through Samuel Dinakaran (35th). But Tudu struck the second goal for Bihar in the 40th minute and made it 3-1, 13 minutes into the second half.

Soprason Samantha gave the host something to cheer about when he reduced the margin in the 75th minute before Mandeep sent the crowd into raptures as he struck two minutes from close.

Once the equaliser came, Haryana pumped itself up and fired one minute from end of play.

In the same Group A super league, Jharkhand defeated Mizoram 2-1. Robin Singh scored in the 53rd minute to put Jharkhand ahead, but three minutes later Debortto Das scored an own goal to bring Mizoram back in contention. Robin Singh, however, allayed the fears of a draw when he scored in the 88th minute.

At Faridabad, Bengal scored its second straight win in Group B beating Karnataka 2-0. Surojit Sarkar and Dipankar Sarkar were the scorers as Karnataka bowed out of contention after its second loss.

Later, Orissa played out a goalless draw against Assam. Orissa has four points from two matches, but will meet Bengal in the last league match. Assam has one point from two matches and plays Karnataka, but it will have to win by over a five-goal margin to get the better of Orissa on goal difference.

Saturday is a rest day.

The results (super league):

Haryana 4 (Samuel Dinakaran 35, Soprason Samantha 75, Mandeep 88, Jatanveer 89) beat Bihar 3 (Arjun Tudu 17, 40, 58). Jharkhand 2 (Robin Singh 53, 88) beat Mizoram 1 (Debortto Das own goal 56).

Bengal 2 (Surojit Sarkar 50, Dipankar Sarkar 82) beat Karnataka 0.

Assam 0 drew with Orissa 0.