Punjab Police, Assam Rifles make last four grades
PATNA: Punjab Police and Assam Riffles moved into the semifinals of 61st BN Mullik Memorial All India Police Football Tournament defeating West Bengal Police 2-1 and BSF 2-0 respectively in the quarterfinals at Moinul Haq Stadium, here on Tuesday.
Punjab Police were trailing 0-1 at the end of first half.
Bengal with short passes and quick interchange of positions put pressure on Punjab Police territory. In the 16th minute Bengal striker Kishore Mallick, from the right flank gave a through pass to Kaushik Dutta but the latter failed to cash in on the opportunity. Bengal missed another chance in the 29th minute when Dipankar Das shot hit crosspiece.
Shrugging off the initial hiccups, Punjab Police played attacking soccer in the next five minutes. Punjab skipper Shiraj Hassan from the midfield lobbed the ball in the Bengal box but Harprit Singh shot went over the crossbar. Three minutes before the lemon break Bengal’s Manoj Das put his team into lead when he beat the Punjab Police goalkeeper.
Stunned by the reverse, Punjab Police combined well from the start of second half and raided the opponent box on several occasions. They got the equliser in the 65th minute when Rohit Singh pushed the ball into Bengal net off a pass from Harprit Singh (1-1). Harprit Singh scored the match winner in the 90th minute (2-1).
In the second match Assam Rifles dominated the proceedings from the start and Densing Mukhim drew the first blood in the 28th minute (1-0). Bulu Jingdung completed the tally in the 66th minute (2-0).
Dhiraj Singh of Assam Rifles and Kabul Singh of BSF were shown yellow cards by referee Satendra Kumar.