U-20 Football: Chandigarh lads go down again

Chandigarh, April 23

Facing their second consecutive defeat, local lads went down Odisha 0-2 during the Swami Vivekananda U-20 Men’s National Football Championship at Narainpur, Chhattisgarh. Both the goals were conceded off counter attacks, as the city defenders failed to stop Odisha strikers.

The first goal came in the 22nd minute, when the opponent right-winger, Suresh Khadia caught both the city defenders unaware. He posted a swift pass to his fellow striker to Anil Toppo, who just touched the ball over the goal line. The local lads tried making a comeback to match, but the scores remained unchanged till the lemon-break.

In the second half, Khadia made another valiant attempt to double their advantage, only to see his shot thwarted by the safe hands of Chandigarh’s goalkeeper Jaspal Singh.

In the dying minutes, the local left winger lost possession, and Odisha half-back Manjit Oram was quick to enough to grab the opportunity to pass the ball to his right-winger, Chandramohan Purty. The right-winger without any delay gave back pass to the half-back, who had already judged the Chandigarh custodian standing advance over the goal line.

He smartly loafed the ball in the nets to defeat two defenders and the goalkeeper.

In their previous match, the city lads went down 1-6 against Manipur.