By IANS,
Chennai: Four times champions Goa opened their campaign in the 63rd National Football championship for the Santosh Trophy with an unimpressive 1-0 win against Jharkhand at Tiruchirapally Monday with Freddy Mascarenhas netting the winner in the Cluster 4 match.
Goa, last year’s semi-finalists, were up against a determined Jharkhand and it took all of 82 minutes for them to score the only goal of the match.
Meanwhile, in Chennai, Haryana outclassed Gujarat 6-0 in a Cluster 7 match that was played in hot and humid conditions. Goals by Vivek Singh Karia (2), Jaswant Singh Parmar (2), Sunil Kumar Sharma and Pawan Kumar saw Haryana open their campaign on a bright note.
At Tiruvallur, on the outskirts of the city, Manipur romped to a 9-0 win against Uttarakhand in Cluster 6 match with Vasum (43rd, 63rd, 89th), Bisheshwar Singh (33rd, 73rd), Singam Subash Singh (59th, 77th), Mutum Bijen Singh (44th) and Thoudam Joychandra Singh (92nd).
At Coimbatore, Maharashtra, quarter-finalists last year, opened their account by defeating Uttar Pradesh 3-0 in a Cluster 2 match.
After Anas Edathodika drew first blood before the break, Alex Mario Ambrose and Zahid Ansari struck on resumption to ensure a comfortable victory.