Manipur rout Tamil Nadu 7-0

Chandigarh, Jul 17 (UNI) Y Kamala Devi netted five as defending champions Manipur snatched full three points routing Tamil Nadu 7-0 in their opening Group I quarter-final league match of the third Junior Girls Under-17 Football Tournament here today.

The ebullient Manipur striker Kamala contributed five goals out of seven her team could score today. M Montesori Chanu and M Mandakini Devi netted one goal each for the winners.

Meanwhile, a last-minute goal by Gurpreet Kaur helped Punjab snatch a point from Haryana by playing a one-all draw in another Group I quarter-final fixture. It was Haryana's main striker Diksha who put her team ahead by converting a cross from the left in the 47th minute after a barren first half. In a sudden counter-attack in the last minute Punjab neutralised the lead in the 79th minute with a solo effort.

A well-balanced Manipur team should have scored more goals but their forwards were erratic in the first half. It was Kamala who muffed a number of chances to score. She either hit wide or Tamil Nadu goalkeeper P Sathyavani saved a number of sure goals.Manipur were also culprit of wasting a penalty as Itabala Devi's shot hit the left post and before Madakini could pounc on the ball, a defender cleared at the cost of a flag kick.

Kamala atoned herself for earlier lapses in the 30th mintue.

Capitalising on a parallel pass from T Ranjita Devi, Kamala caught the Tamil Nadu goalkeeper on the wrong foot. Kamala also had her hand in Manipur's second goal as she gave a perfect pass to Mandakini Devi to do the rest in the 39th minute. Then came Kamala's hat-trick as she scored in the 40th, 47th and 60th minutes. She herself rounded of the winners' tally in the 67th minute.

Before this N Montesori Chanu had scored Manipur's sixth goal in the 65th minute.

Tomorrow's fixtures: Tripura vs Orissa and Uttar Pradesh vs West Bengal.

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