Defending champions Greenwood School, Kohima, Nagaland kept their title defence on track with a hard fought 3-1 victory over an impressive North-Eastern English School, Manipur in the U-14 category of the 54th Subroto Cup here Tuesday.
Although the final score told a different story, it was a difficult encounter for the U-14 Nagaland team who became the first side to enter the last four stage. Their defence was put under pressure in the initial stages by Manipur forwards and they deservedly took the lead thanks to a fantastic strike by Alloudin.
Nagaland, however, found their rhythm and the Greenwood boys made better use of their chances with Nukhosa (25th min), Nokethozo (26th) and Tokavi (48th) finding the target, thus sealing their semifinal spot.
Meanwhile, coming from war-torn Afghanistan, Kabul champions Ghazi High School on their maiden trip to the Subroto Cup, had a memorable debut with a 2-0 win over a clueless Government School, Fatehabad, Haryana.
Although the Delhi schools are playing at their local grounds, they could not make their home advantage count as The Air Force School and Mamta Modern School finished their campaigns with disappointing results.