Punjab after today's loss finished on five points are second in the table, while Kerala who beat Mizoram are at the top of the table with 7 poins and have qualified for the semi-finals.
Maharashtra who opened their account have three points along with Railway from three matches.
Maharashtra showed more intent right from the start with several penetrating runs, good individual play and crisp passing that left Punjab high and dry in several occasions.
Aaron D'Costa and Abhishek Ambekar along with Vijith Shetty combined well on several occasions. Punjab could have taken the lead against the run of play when Harpal Singh squared the ball to Rajbir Singh but his shot was blocked by the Maharashtra goalkeeper Aditya Mishra.
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The second half saw the pendulum swing totally in favour of Maharashtra and it was only a matter of time before Vijith Shetty put them ahead.
Punjab had their best chance to equalise when a brilliant cross from Amandeep Singh on the right found an unmarked Harpal Singh. He, however, tried to smash in a volley first time, and his weak shot was easily saved by the keeper. That was the closest Punjab would get as Maharashtra kept raiding their defence.
Substitute Astle Pereira could have put the result beyond doubt missing two golden opportunities as Godfrey Pereira's side hung on for their first three points of the tournament.
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