Santosh Trophy Qualifiers Manipur slump to 2-0 loss to Tripura, Mizoram march on

By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, Nov 30 : Manipur went down 0-2 to Tripura in the second match of the National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy NE Zone qualifiers (Group B) today here at Khuman Lampak Main Stadium. In another match of the day, Mizoram beat Nagaland 1-0 for the second win.
The loss is a blow to Manipur's chances of making it to the final round (Group stage) of the competition and the match against Mizoram who are unbeaten so far in the tournament on November 2, will decide their fate.
Both Manipur and Tripura started cautiously and were cancelling out each other's run until Manajit Singha Barua took advantage of deteriorating coordination among State players to open up the scoring in the 42nd minute.
Anxious Manipur put in an all out effort to pull level after the restart but Tripura players did well to mark the Manipuri strikers and keep all threats at bay.
Manipur had to dig deep in search of the equaliser but  Bikash Tripura ease through depleted defence line of Manipur and banged in the decisive goal three minutes into the stoppage time to make it 2-0 in Tripura's favour.
Meanwhile, the only goal that earned Mizoram all three points was scored by Lalnuntluanga Bawitlung in the 44th minute of the match.
With the win, Mizoram are on top of the Group table with 6 points.