Zonal Santosh Trophy: Punjab score solitary goal win over Delhi to sail through

Hosts Delhi wilted under pressure in their last league match against Punjab to miss the main round of the national football championships for the Santosh Trophy. Delhi lost to Punjab by a solitary goal in the North Zone leg of the Santosh Trophy here at the Jawaharlal Nehru Sports Complex on Sunday.

Delhi needed a draw against former eight-time champion side Punjab to sail through to the main round of the Santosh Trophy. But they missed a golden opportunity to qualify for the main round on Saturday, said Shaji Prabhakran, president of Football Delhi.

“We missed a penalty in the second half of the contest while Punjab grabbed the chance to score the match-winner in the 65 minutes through Jashandeep Singh in the 62 minutes. Thereafter, Punjab maintained the narrow one goal lead,” said Shaji.

Punjab did enough to outlast hosts Delhi in the Santosh Trophy

No doubt Punjab was the strongest side in the tournament, but Delhi played their heart out in the last league match of the tournament. Both teams were goalless at the end of the first session.

After a change of sides, Delhi made forays into rival territory but the all-important goal eluded them. The home team even missed a penalty.

In another league match on Saturday, Haryana scored a thumping 6-0 win over Uttarakhand. Gaurav Negi was the star performer of Haryana’s win. He scored three goals (not a hat-trick). Nilesh Saini, Vikas Dalal and Vinay were the other goal scorers for the winning side.

Both Haryana and Uttarakhand weren’t in contention to qualify for the main round.

Punjab, in its opening match of the competition, beat Haryana 2-0. In their second league match on Friday (December 3), Punjab scored a 11-0 win over Uttarakhand.

Delhi started its campaign on a promising note, scoring 11-1 over Uttarakhand. Delhi defeated Haryana 4-0 in its second league match.