Services now are within the semi-finals of the Santosh Trophy. (Image: IANS)
Shafeel P.P. and Samir Murmu scored within the first half as Services beat Railways 2-0 to make it into the semi-finals of the Santosh Trophy 2024.
Shafeel P.P. and Samir Murmu scored within the first half as six-time winners Services put up a commanding show within the first quarterfinal of the 77th National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy, defeating Railways 2-0 on the Golden Jubilee Stadium right here on Monday.
Forced to play second fiddle for a lot of the match towards a rampaging Services aspect, the railwaymen have been swept off their ft as early as within the ninth minute when a foul within the space allowed the winners to take the lead by a penalty transformed by Shafeel PP. Their second objective got here nearly on the stroke of halftime; a superb effort by Samir Mumru noticed Services go into the break main 2-0.
That Services, who made the semifinals within the final version too, have been the higher crew on the pitch was clear from the very starting. In the sixth minute, midfielder Rahul Ramakrishnan had a probing ball in his possession on the left and as he was slicing in, Railways defender Nitesh Kumar Yadav challenged him in a way that didn’t obtain the referee’s approval.
Defender Shafeel, who stepped in to take the spot-kick had the goalkeeper Raja Barman overwhelmed convincingly on the correct, however the referee ordered the kick to be retaken as one of many Services gamers rushed contained in the field even earlier than the shot was taken. Unperturbed, Shafeel slammed the ball in as soon as once more, this time on the left.
Services have been largely creating hassle for the rival defenders from the left. The Railways’ defence seemed harassed and managed to survive until the forty fifth minute. However, that they had no reply to the objective scored by Samir Murmu, which was a spectacular effort. Latching on to the ball on the correct, Murmu took an angular shot that entered the objective, nearly kissing the far submit.
Railways are three-time former champions who additionally completed runners-up on six different events. Over the years, Railways have produced some legendary gamers — PK Banerjee, Arun Ghosh, and Prasanta Sinha, to identify a number of.
But on Monday, they weren’t of their ingredient and did little to stretch the Services defence. The purple-shirted Services have been everywhere in the pitch and will have received by a much bigger margin had they not missed a number of possibilities.
