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Bengal,Tamil Nadu through to semis
Hugs and high fives went around on either side of the Yuba Bharati Krirangan turf where Bengal and Tamil Nadu were warming up for Wednesday's second match. Referee Adley D'Costa had just blown the long whistle ending Delhi's Santosh Trophy quarter-final group league match against Mizoram in a goalless draw.
Hugs and high fives went around on either side of the Yuba Bharati Krirangan turf where Bengal and Tamil Nadu were warming up for Wednesday's second match. Referee Adley D'Costa had just blown the long whistle ending Delhi's Santosh Trophy quarter-final group league match against Mizoram in a goalless draw. The result meant both Bengal and Tamil Nadu were through to the semi-finals even before playing their last league match. Tamil Nadu finished on top and will take on Punjab on Friday evening after Bengal face Group A toppers Goa for a berth in Sunday's final.
Bengal shot into the lead in the 16th minute when Nilendra Dewan pinned his right-footer in the back of the net.
Tamil Nadu equalised immediately. Left-side midfielder V.R. Murugappan volleyed in a searching ball, shielding Safar Sardar all the while.
Tamil Nadu's winner came in the 79th minute. Playing a deft one-two with substitute M. Elamurugan on the right, striker P.C. Riju beat R. Dhanarajan and cut in with just keeper Sandip Nandy to beat.
Power failure
The match was held up for 25 minutes four minutes into the second half due to a power failure when the stadium plunged into complete darkness for at least a whole minute. The lights started coming back soon afte but took time to come back to full luminosity.
Unbeaten Delhi bow out of tournament
Delhi, with three points from three matches, bowed out, albeit remaining unbeaten in the tournament. They needed to win Wednesday's match against Mizoram and await the result of Bengal and Tamil Nadu. The match ended goalless.
