Hyderabad, Dec 16 (IANS): West Bengal and Services recorded dominant victories in Group A of the final round of the 78th National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy at the Deccan Arena on Monday.
West Bengal maintained their reign at the top of the table after beating hosts Telangana 3-0 for their second consecutive win, while defending champions Services finally got going and opened their account for the season with a 4-0 win over Jammu & Kashmir.
Jammu & Kashmir remained at the bottom with no points from two games. Telangana are currently in fifth with a point from their draw against Rajasthan on the opening day.
The cautious and defensive setup from Telangana could only keep West Bengal at bay until the 39th minute. Robi Hansda took advantage of a botched clearance inside the box and smashed it into the bottom corner for the opening goal. It was Hansda's eighth goal of the Santosh Trophy campaign, which helped him overtake Tamil Nadu's Lijo K and become the top-scorer.
Narohari Shrestha joined the scoresheet with a superb glancing header into the roof of the net at the stroke of half-time. Shrestha continued his fine scoring form and netted his third of the final round and West Bengal's third of the game in the 56th minute. Receiving a through ball from Rabilal Mandi at the edge of the box, Shrestha swiftly turned and side-footed it into the bottom-right corner.
Coming into the game on the back of a defeat to Manipur, Services were dominant from the get-go and led 2-0 at half-time. Lethaolen Khongsai scored the opener in the 11th minute, nodding in a free-kick from captain Christopher Kamei with a back header towards the far post. Sreyas VG made it two by converting a low cross from Alan Thapa with a textbook finish from six yards out.
Jammu & Kashmir had started to find some rhythm as the game progressed but any hopes of a comeback were dashed when Services scored twice in the 53rd and 54th minutes. Rahul Ramakrishnan got on the end of a long ball from Khongsai and calmly slotted it past goalkeeper Nirdosh Sagotra. Thapa then got his second assist of the game as he set up Thingnam Bidyashagar Singh, who cut to his left and drilled it in.