Manipur blank Himachal Pradesh 3-0

Gurgaon, Sep 22 (UNI) A far-from-impressive Manipur blanked lowly Himachal Pradesh 3-0 in a Cluster V tie of the 61st National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy here today.

Manipur, the 2003 winners, led 2-0 at breather.

It was a mismatch between the two teams throughout the game with the Manipuris having all the possession and doing all the runnings and the Himachal guys defending from their own half.

Manipur, despite having two internationals -- captain Rennedy Singh and Surkumar Singh -- and a number of players from top clubs, failed to make an impression even though they hardly broke a sweat on their way to win the match.

Manipur surged ahead in the 14th minute througth striker Narendra Neetei. Rennedy Singh initiated the move and fed Samson Singh through an aerical pass and the latter cut through a couple of rival defenders inside the box before relaying it to an unmarked Narendra who slotted the ball home.

The second goal was a spectacular one with Bungo Singh firing a right-footed volley from top of the box in the 31st minute that beat the Himachal goalkeeper and landed in the top right corner of the net.

With a 2-0 cushion, the Manipuris became complacent in the second session was marked by mispasses galore and aimless run with their frontline failing to create any clear chance.

Manipur had to wait till the injury time to round off the tally and it was Rennedy Singh's corner from the left in the 91st minute which was neatly connected by a Vijen Singh header into the goal.

Despite the mundane show, Manipur coach Shanti Kumar Singh was not too worried with the boys' performance.

''The boys, who play for different clubs, didn't have the time to play together before this match and it showed today. They will pick up in the later matches,'' he told UNI.

Manipur meet Andhra Pradesh on Sunday.

In another Cluster V tie this morning, Andhra drew with Chhattisgarh 1-1. Both the goals came in the first half. Deepanshu Majumdar put Chhattisgarh ahead in the 18th minute while Andhra equalised through Mohammad Qiler in the 43rd minute.

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