Bengal beat Meghalaya 4-3 in Santosh Trophy

Malappuram, April 22: In a keenly-contested match, West Bengal beat Meghalaya by 4-3 in a Group-A match and garnered 3 points from the encounter in the Santosh Trophy National Football Championship being held at Kottapadi stadium here on Friday. Bengal was now in second position with 6 points in the points table just below Kerala (7 points) while Meghalaya secured 4 points from 3 matches each. In a neck-to-neck fight, goals were netted by both teams at regular intervals in both halves as Bengal took the lead and within minutes Meghalaya found the equaliser keeping the spectators at the tenterhooks who assembled to support both sides with high sportsman spirit. Man of the match Mahitosh Roy (49th and 69th minute) and Md Fardin Ali Mohalla (23rd and 43th minute) scored for the winners. Meghalaya’s Shano Tariang also scored brace in the 40th and 46th minute and their Sangti Janai Shilanglong scored in the 40th minute. West Bengal custodian Priyant Singh played a good game under the bar including saving a penalty shot in the 86th minute, helping garner three points for the winners in the crucial match to decide for the chances to semi finalists. Bengal will take on Rajasthan and Meghalaya will meet Punjab in their last (fourth) Group matches on April 24. UNI