U-20 Football: Boys from Chandigarh lose once again
The local boys lost to Odisha 0-2 in the Swami Vivekananda U-20 Men’s National Football Championship at Narainpur, Chhattisgarh, suffering their second straight loss. The city defenders were unable to halt the Odisha attackers, resulting in the surrender of both goals during counterattacks.
The first goal was scored in the 22nd minute when Suresh Khadia, the opposing team’s right winger, caught both city defenders off guard. Anil Toppo, his fellow striker, received a quick assist from him and barely touched the ball over the goal line. The local boys attempted a comeback to even the scores, but they stayed that way until the lemon break.
In the second half, Khadia made another heroic effort to increase their lead, but Chandigarh goalie Jaspal Singh stopped his shot safely.
The Odisha half-back Manjit Oram was quick to seize the chance to throw the ball to his right winger, Chandramohan Purty, after the local left winger lost control in the last minutes. The half-back, who had previously assessed the Chandigarh custodian’s standing advance above the goal line, received a quick back ball from the right-winger.
He outwitted the goalie and two defenders by cleverly loafing the ball in the net.
The boys from the city lost their previous game against Manipur 1-6.
