City lads lose to Odisha in semifinals of football nat’ls

Tribune News Service

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Chandigarh, August 4
After consecutive wins, Chandigarh boys faced a 0-2 defeat against Odisha in a semifinal match of the Junior Boys’ National Football Championships for the BC Roy Trophy (Tier), at the Ramakrishna Ashrama Ground in Narainpur (Chhattisgarh).
In a well-contested match, Odisha, who came clean with two back-to-back wins in the group stage, took the lead during the add-on time of the first half — thanks to a brilliant free-kick by Aman Lakra. He lobbed the ball right over the Chandigarh box and Prempiyush Bagh jumped his marker to head the ball home in the most spectacular fashion.
Despite trailing by a goal, the lads were never out of contention and repeatedly raided the rival area. However, their search for the equaliser remained elusive. Odisha slammed in another in the 67th minute to further consolidate their position. Right winger Sambhunath Majhi rushed past the defender into the Chandigarh area. However, Chandigarh goalkeeper Sohel was quick to come out and clear the ball.
Standing at far, Naresh Kumar Dhan took control of the rebound and volleyed home a stunning goal. Hipjyoti Moran, the star of the previous matches, failed to find goals for the local team, as Odisha comfortably won the semis.
Earlier, Moran helped the side reach the semis. The local side piped Punjab 1-0. In a neck-and-neck fight, Moran netted the only goal of the match in the 70th minute.
The Chandigarh boys registered their second win by defeating Karnataka 2-0.
Eves face 2 major defeats
After facing a 0-11 loss to hosts Karnataka, the city girls logged 0-10 defeat against Uttar Pradesh in their third encounter of the Junior Girls’ National Football Championship in Belgaum.
After the first embarrassing defeat, the city girls had logged a 5-1 win over Jammu & Kashmir. Ridhneet Kaur and Gitanshi Jyoti scored a goal each. Thereafter, Uttar Pradesh thrashed Chandigarh 10-0 as skipper Anchal Patel scored four goals (7th, 27th, 28th, 54th), while Kumari Komal netted a hat-trick (16th, 25th, 35th). Khushi Rai (70th) and Shbana (43rd) scored once each, while Chandigarh’s Aarti scored an own goal (33rd). On Sunday, the local side scored a 9-2 win over Andaman & Nicobar Island.