Mizoram to play Manipur in T Ao final
Defending champions Mizoram will clash against Manipur in the final of the Dr T Ao football tournament. In the first semifinal played here on Monday, Mizoram defeated Arunachal Pradesh 1-0 while Manipur defeated Meghalaya 1-0 for a spot in the championship round.
In the first semifinal at the Polo ground, Lalfawkama turned super-sub for Mizoram when he scored the only goal of the match in the 74th minute. Mizoram were guilty of spoiling several chances even as Arunachal dictated terms in the first 15 minutes and even came close to scoring.
Arunachal Pradesh could have gone into the lead in the 15th minute after striker Toko Polium made a great move from the left and set up Mihin Pullo, whose powerful strike was brilliantly save by Mizoram custodian J Van Lal Hriata.
The Mizo boys settled down slowly and V Laltlanpuia almost scored in the 27th minute but his shot went straight to the Arunachal goalie.
After a barren first half, Mizoram could have taken the lead but Lalrinpuia’s strong right footer missed the goal by a whisker. Three minutes later, Arunachal Pradesh custodian made a major blunder as he failed to cleanly collect the ball and Larinpuia got an opportunity to put Mizoram into the lead, but his shot hit the crossbar.
Mohammed Sohail’s 50th minute strike helped Manipur get past Meghalaya. It was a well-contested match with both teams getting ample scoring opportunities. But Manipur were distinctly lucky to make the final.
In the first semifinal at the Polo ground, Lalfawkama turned super-sub for Mizoram when he scored the only goal of the match in the 74th minute. Mizoram were guilty of spoiling several chances even as Arunachal dictated terms in the first 15 minutes and even came close to scoring.
Arunachal Pradesh could have gone into the lead in the 15th minute after striker Toko Polium made a great move from the left and set up Mihin Pullo, whose powerful strike was brilliantly save by Mizoram custodian J Van Lal Hriata.
The Mizo boys settled down slowly and V Laltlanpuia almost scored in the 27th minute but his shot went straight to the Arunachal goalie.
After a barren first half, Mizoram could have taken the lead but Lalrinpuia’s strong right footer missed the goal by a whisker. Three minutes later, Arunachal Pradesh custodian made a major blunder as he failed to cleanly collect the ball and Larinpuia got an opportunity to put Mizoram into the lead, but his shot hit the crossbar.