Jorhat: Haryana qualified for the semifinals of the Sub-Junior Boys’ National Football Championship Tier 2 when they outclassed Chandigarh 7-0 in their last Group B match on Monday.
Haryana, who needed only a draw to make the grade, finished with nine points from three matches and will meet Group D winners Himachal Pradesh for a spot in the final. The other semifinal match is between hosts Assam (Group A winners) and Rajasthan (Group C winners).
Haryana led 1-0 at half-time but stepped up the pace in the second session to leave Chandigarh rattled. Striker Rajeev Kapoor emerged the hero with a four-goal effort and giving him the right company were Harjinder Singh, Sukhvinder Singh and Piyush Rathi, who struck a goal each.
Earlier, in an inconsequential match of the same group, Tripura massacred bottom side Andaman and Nicobar 14-0.
The goal-riot was led by Tripura skipper Jenesis Darlong, who ended up with six goals against his name. While Hamkrungha Reang accounted for three, Naithak Jamatia (2), Sandeep Debbarma, Ayush Chakma and Victor Halam were other goalgetters.
On the other hand, Manipur strengthened their position in Group B of the Sub-Junior Boys’ National Football Championship Tier 1 when they notched up their second straight three-pointer with an 8-0 victory over Gujarat, on Monday.
Keisham Bikash Singh did the bulk of the scoring for the winners with four goals. Laishram Mahesh Singh, Dennison Pukhrambam, Susan Waikhom and Sapam Sarjit Singh scored the other goals.
In another match of the same group, Goa, too, picked up full points defeating Uttar Pradesh 4-0 with Joseph Decosta scoring a hat-trick. Anosh Frenoy Vaz scored the other goal.
–IANS