Date:03/01/2009 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2009/01/03/stories/2009010356651600.htm

Sport - Football

Tiruchi in last four

TIRUCHI: Tiruchi stormed into the semifinals of the State youth football championship, thrashing Tirunelveli 4-0 here on Friday.

In an eventful first 20 minutes of play, Tiruchi missed four sitters and its defenders made a couple of goalline clearances. But once the host forwards got into the groove there was no looking back. Hari Shanmugasundaram struck twice in a span of 10 minutes (25th and 35th) to put his team in a comfortable position. Tiruchi players were in more prolific form after the break, with Sathish Kumar scoring in the first minute of the second half. The host continued to raid the Tirunelveli defence and Devarajan completed an easy victory with a goal in the 61st minute.

In the other quarterfinal fixture, last year’s runner up Dindigul beat Coimbatore 3-1 in a shootout after a 1-1 stalemate in regulation time. Rajalingam put Dindigul in front in the 28th minute, but Vivek equalised in the second half. The score line remained the same till the end of stipulated time and the match was decided on shootout. — Principal Correspondent