Railways beat Chattisgarh 4-1, Odisha draw with Sikkim

Indian Railways opened their campaign by defeating Chattisgarh 4-1 while Odisha drew against Sikkim in the East Zone round of 69th Santosh Trophy football tournament here today.
In the match played at JRD Tata Sports complex here, the railwaymen dominated the proceedings right from the kick off and surged ahead in the very first minute through forward Kenistan C.
After scoring the first goal, the railwaymen did not even allowed time to the opponent as forward P C Raju tore part the defence line and netted two minutes later.
Kenistan and Raju exhibited their skill in the front as the former received a mid-field pass and drove past two defender and struck the brace in 26th minute to increase the lead to 3-0 at lemon-break.

Chattisgarh pulled up their socks after play resumed post-breather and put up a stiff challenge in the first quarter but Railways succeeded to make an accurate move when Raju scored in 60th minute.
Chattisgarh' Junaid Ali Khan reduced the margin when he converted an accurate pass from the left flank at 72nd minute of the game.

In an another tie played at Gopal maidan, Odisha faced a stiff challenge from Sikkim after both the teams locked in 1-1 at half time.
Sukhraj Limboo put the Northeast team into lead in 9th minutes but Odisha's S K Zahid fetched the equaliser in the 26th minutes.

Post-breather, both the teams failed to convert the opportunities that came their way.