Shillong, Dec 18: Meghalaya’s hopes of advancing in the Senior Men’s National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy 2024-25 took a major hit after a 1-0 defeat to Kerala in their Group B encounter in Hyderabad on Tuesday evening. With this result, Meghalaya now face a challenging task to stay in contention for the quarterfinals.
Kerala’s Muhammad Ajsal scored the only goal in the 37th minute of the Group B encounter.
Meghalaya coach Hering Shangpliang made two changes to the starting lineup that drew with Tamil Nadu two days ago; he brought in Badondor Marbaniang and Khrawkupar Jana in place of Aibiangmame Nongneng and Baiaikara Swer.
Like in the previous match, the opposition had the stronger first half before Meghalaya upped their game in the second but this time there were no points to be had as Kerala held on to their narrow lead.
Ajsal was in the thick of the action throughout the first 45 minutes and won a battle with two Meghalaya players before scoring a stunning low shot from distance that beat a diving Siwel Rymbai in goal.
Later, Meghalaya had several good chances to equalise but they were unable to convert though they came very close on several occasions, with the ball coming off the woodwork twice.
Tuesday’s other results in Group B saw Odisha defeat Goa 2-0 and Delhi beat Tamil Nadu by the same margin. Delhi and Kerala are at the top of the table with a full 6 points from two games. Odisha are third with 3 points, while Meghalaya and Tamil Nadu both have 1, with Meghalaya the better goal difference (-1 to -2). Goa are bottom of the group with 0 points. The top four teams from each group will progress to the quarterfinals.
Meghalaya will next play against Delhi on Thursday at 2:30pm.
Read:Â Acquire and hand over land for expansion of Shillong Airport to AAI within 3 months: HC to Govt
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