Ambrose's hat-trick inspires Goa

By Our Sports Reporter

DULIAJAN, JUNE 12. Defending champion Goa rode on Alex Ambrose's hat- trick to thrash host Assam 5-2 in a Group A quarterfinal league tie and booked a place in the semifinals of the OIL 10th National under-21 football for the Manindra Dutta Roy Trophy at the Nehru Maidan here on Tuesday.

Goa's qualification, after its hopes were reduced following the 1-2 loss to Railways in the previous match, was the most dramatic result of the day.

The honour of being the group champion, however, belonged to East Zone champion Railways, which beat Punjab 2-1 to remain the only unbeaten side in the group. Railways scored seven points from two wins and a draw while Goa's improved performance against Assam fetched it the runner-up spot with four points. Assam and Punjab, with two points each, crashed out of the tournament. The other two semifinalists will be decided on Wednesday when the Group B matches conclude.

Coming in as a substitute in the 33rd minute for an off-colour striker Wilfred Gomes, Ambrose spearheaded the Goa attack and authored the first goal with a nice through pass to midfield colleague, Anil Fernandes, who finished with a flourish.

After the change of ends, Ambrose was in his original role of striker, scoring three goals in a span of six minutes, to seal Assam's fate. The forward netted the first goal in the 49th minute and the second through a penalty after he was brought down inside the Assam box in the 51st minute.

Ambrose's hat-trick was accomplished in the 55th minute off a solo effort after he collected a stray ball outside the box. He was in the thick of action again and his fine lob saw Fernandes providing the finishing touches to Goa's scoreline in the 84th minute.

With Goa becoming complacent towards the end of the match, Assam earned two consolation goals through Rakesh Basumatary (88th) and Sanjeeva Rongpi (injury-time).

Playing its concluding match against Punjab, Railways got an early lead through Mukund Yadav who put the team ahead in the fourth minute. Harpreet Singh equalised for Punjab in the 40th minute as the first session ended 1-1. Railways played with more purpose in the second session and found Monojit Sarkar netting the match-winner in the 77th minute.

Karnataka takes on Madhya Pradesh while Bengal meets Manipur in the two concluding Group B league ties on Wednesday to decide the remaining two semifinalists.

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