Santosh Trophy: Services, Bengal win big

Title holders Services and former champions West Bengal registered dominant victories in Group A matches of the final round of the 78th National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy at Deccan Arena, Hyderabad, on Monday.

Hyderabad: Title holders Services and former champions West Bengal registered dominant victories in Group A matches of the final round of the 78th National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy at Deccan Arena, Hyderabad, on Monday.

West Bengal maintained their top spot on the points table after beating hosts Telangana 3-0 for their second consecutive win, while defending champions Services finally got going and opened their account with a 4-0 win over Jammu and Kashmir.

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Jammu & Kashmir remained at the bottom with no points from two games. Telangana are currently fifth with a point from their draw against Rajasthan on the opening day. For West Bengal, Narohari Shrestha (45+3, 56th) scored twice while Robi Hansda (39th) netted once. It was Hansda’s eighth goal of the Santosh Trophy campaign, which helped him overtake Tamil Nadu’s Lijo K to become the current top-scorer.

Earlier, Lethaolen Khongsai (11th), Sreyas VG (26th), Rahul Ramakrishnan (53rd), and Thingnam Bidyasagar Singh (54th) scored in Services’ 4-0 drubbing of J&K. Coming into the game after a defeat to Manipur, Services were dominant from the get-go as Khongsai scored the opener in the 11th minute and Sreyas made it 2-0 going into halftime.

In the second half, Rahul Ramakrishnan and Bidyasagar Singh scored twice in the 53rd and 54th minutes, respectively, securing a comfortable victory for Services.

Results: Services 4 (Lethaolen Khaonsai 11’, Sreyas VG 26’, Rahul Ramakrishanan 53’, Thingnam Bidhyasagar Singh 54’) bt Jammu & Kashmir 0, West Bengal 3 (Robi Hansda 39’, Naro Hari Shrestha 45+3’, 56’).