76th NFC for Santosh Trophy Group VIManipur trounce Jharkhand 5-1 for fourth win on trot

By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, Jan 29 : Hosts Manipur brushed aside Jharkhand by 5-1 goals in a lopsided encounter to extend their winning streak to four games in the 76th National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy Group VI competition.
Manipur, who had sealed three comfortable victories earlier, got off to a flying start and raced to a 3-0 first half before sealing the game 5-1 at Khuman Lampak Main Stadium this afternoon.
Kishan Singh Thongam opened the floodgate early in the third minute as he unleashed a power-packed shot from the left edge of the 18th yard box after connecting a fine pass from around the spot. Two minutes later, Manipur earned a corner and captain Subash Singam floated in a cross from the corner which was cleared off with a header by a Jharkhand defender but Carrick Mangminlun rose highest from among the players to head in past the Jharkhand custodian to make it 2-0.
The scoring spree continued with Subash setting up another chance by sending a beautiful cross from the right flank and Ronald Saikhom executed a clinical header to make it 3-0 after 7 minutes.
Jharkhand however held off the pressure in the remaining part of the half and a major portion of the second half until Jharkhand custodian fumbled in clearing an attempt and the ball went to Subash Singam who cracked a powerful shot to bury the ball into the net and made it 4-0 after 77 minutes.
Manipur continued to search for more goals with forwards consistently looking for the gaps and it was P Naoba who stole the ball following a mispass among Jharkhand defenders and maneuvered his way into the box by side-stepping a defender before beautifully dispatching the ball into the net to extend the lead to 5-0.
Jharkhand however scored a consolation goal through Rohit Tigga one minute away from time of a beautiful team walk down the left flank.
Meanwhile at ESU ground, Punjab notched up their third win with a 5-0 rout of Himachal Pradesh as Abhisek Rattu scored twice (28', 74') and Rohit Sheikh (2'), Parmjit Singh (34'-Penalty) and Amarpreet Singh (86') netted a goal apiece.
Earlier in the morning match at Khuman Lampak Main Stadium, Chandigarh earned the first victory in four matches by beating Lakshadweep 3-1.
Lakshadweep were 1-0 ahead with Md Shareef P's goal in the 29th minute but Chandigarh set up the recovery path with Naorem Gobindas finding the equaliser in the 63rd minute. Substitute Hardik Singh then overturned the lead in Chandigarh's favour two minutes later before Kunal Singh further cemented their lead in the 69th minute with a beautiful goal. The scoreline remained unchanged till the final whistle despite Lakshadweep trying to reduce the gap and Chandigarh trying to add more to their tally.
January 31 matches
Chandigarh vs Himachal Pradesh -10 am at Main Stadium
Manipur vs Punjab - 2 pm at Main Stadium
Lakshadweep vs Jharkhand - 10 am at ESU ground