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Assam go down to West Bengal, Mizoram blank Delhi

69th Santosh Trophy 2015: West Bengal v Assam

69th Santosh Trophy 2015: West Bengal v Assam

The Shishir Ghosh coached West Bengal team started its campaign in the ongoing 69th National Football Championships for the Santosh Trophy 2015 with a solitary goal win over Assam.

Assam team looked like the better side in the encounter. Assam, who suffered a debacle in their first outing against Punjab, started the proceedings on an offensive note and their fertile moves were seen in form of a superb combination of Manosh Manjit Chetia, Fwjwbswarang Warry, Mintu Boro and Suraj Mondal.

West Bengal’s defense nullified all the moves as Assam was lurking upfront and could not utilize the chances those came their way. On the other hand Bengal did not exhibit much of the impressive game, however, Javed Ansari, Imran Khan and Raja Das displayed some great skills on two to three occasions.

The lone goal of the match was scored in the 20th minute, when West Bengal defender Sagram Mandi initiated an emphatic attack. Mandi provided a through ball to Imran Khan who further delivered a well measured pass to his companion Raja Das. Das dribbled past an Assamese defender before placing the ball into the back of the net.

Assam didn’t surrender as the side combined well and launched various attempts on the West Bengal goal. But the score line remained 1-0 in favour of West Bengal at half-time.

Assam continued their efforts in search of an equalizer after the half-time break. In the 83rd minute, the West Bengal defense gave away a penalty to Assam when a defender brought down an Assamese player in the box. Suraj Mondal stepped in to take the resulting penalty kick, but he wasted the chance as his shot went over the crossbar.

Meanwhile, defending champions Mizoram defeated Delhi 2-0 in the second Group B match of the day played at the JCT Sports Complex, Chohal. The end-to-end encounter didn’t produce any goals in the first half, while Mizoram started to dominate the proceedings in the second half.

Lalbiakaua scored the first goal of the match in the 50th minute. F. Lalrinpuia increased the lead in the 85th minute to secure his team a 2-0 win against Delhi.