Philem Dipak Singh

Gurgaon, Oct 18 (UNI) Holders Goa were eliminated from the Santosh Trophy football tournament in dramatic circumstances while West Bengal and Punjab sailed in the semi-finals from Group A here today.

A Nicholas Rodrigues last minute strike saw the Goans fighting back a spirited Haryana for 2-2 draw but that was not for a semi-final berth as Bengal beat Punjab 1-0 and the latter pipped the defending champions on goal difference.

Punjab and Goa have four points each but the former have a plus one goal difference while the latter have a goal difference of zero.

Punjab had won 2-0 against Goa and drawn with Haryana 0-0 while Bengal had beaten Haryana 1-0 and lost to Goa 0-2 in their earlier matches.

Bengal topped the group with six points from three matches and will play Group B runners-up in the first semi-final on Sunday while Punjab face Group B winners in the second semi-final on the same day.

Kerala play Karnataka while Maharashtra take on Tamil Nadu in Group B matches tomorrow on the last day of quarter-final league stage.

The Bengal-Punjab match did never rise to great heights with both the sides failing to create clear chances. However, Bengal captain Dipendu Biswas' brilliant goal from a fine free-kick early in the second half was enough for them to book a place in the semi-final.

The all-important goal came when Dipendu's curling right footer, in the 57th minute, crashed into the net, giving Punjab goalkeeper Kamleshwar Singh little chance to react.

The first half saw Bengal having the advantage and Syed Rahim Nabi missed a sitter in the 16th minute when his left footer hit the outstretched hands of goalkeeper Kameshwar Singh and on the rebound, Dipendu shot wide.

Within seconds from a Punjab counter-attack, a Baldeep Singh right-footed shot was blocked by Bengal goalkeeper Kalyan Chaubey.

The Punjab attack lacked teeth with the absence of young India striker Manjit Singh who was injured in the match against Haryana.

The second half was even more slow-paced than the first and most of the moves ended in the rival box of both sides. Punjab got the best chance to equalise in the dying minutes but Baldeep Singh shot over an advancing goalkeeper after getting the better of a rival defender inside the Bengal box. Earlier, a Nicholas Rodrigues strike in the last minute helped Goa split points with Haryana after playing a 2-2 draw even though, in the end, it was of hardly any consolation.

Freddy Marcarenhas (62nd) and Nicholas Rodrigues (90th) scored for the Goans, while Sandeep Malik (65th) and Sanjeev (75th) found the net for Haryana in the match.

Playing their best match so far, Haryana could have won the match but the woodwork denied them on two occasions.

The hosts were leading 2-1 after coming from behind from 0-1 down till the 65th minute and the vociferous home crowd was anticipating a sweet win for Haryana.

But the Rodrigues strike denied it and Haryana ended their quarterfinal league at the bottom of the table with two points, having drwan earlier with Punjab and lost to Bengal.

Egged on a by the partisan crowd, Haryana turned the tables today and the Goan defence looked both vulnerable and porous with repeated Haryana attacks.

After some initial dangerous goal-bound moves by Goa, it was Haryana's turn to prove they are no pushovers in the tournament and Goa in fact was lucky to go into the breather with the scorelines reading 0-0.

In that session, Haryana were beaten by the crossbar twice. A Manish Mathani pass in the 31st minute saw Sanjeev weaving through the Goan defence but his well-placed right footer beat the jumping goalkeeper but came back into play after hitting the bar.

Nine minutes later, Sanjeev stole the ball from outside the rival box, darted down the right goalline and essayed a diagonal pass which went clear of goalkeeper to Parveen Arora but Arora's right-footed tapping in front of the empty goal hit the woodwork again.

Real drama unfolded in the second session with the Goans pressing for the lead and they were lucky to take the lead through spot kick conversion after a goal-bound Peter Calvalho was brought down inside the danger area by a Haryana defender. Freddy Marcarenhas made no mistake in converting the penalty kick.

Four minutes had not elapased as Haryana struck back with Sandeep Malik scoring through a powerful header from a corner kick taken from the left by Devesh which gave no chance to rival defenders.

The hosts did not relax and deservingly took the lead in the 75th minute through Sanjeev when his left footer inside the penalty area, a second attempt, stunned the Goa goalkeeper.

Haryana supporters were smelling history but a power failure in the 82nd minute stopped play and after resumption the break turn out the spoiler and just seconds before the end of regulation time, Nicholas headed in to frustrate the Haryana fans.

UNI