Karnataka in pre-quarters of Santosh Trophy

Karnataka drubbed Jharkhand 6-1 at the Howrah Stadium while Maharashtra downed Tripura 4-1 at the Barasat Stadium to qualify for the last-16 stage.

In an inconsequential cluster II match at the Khardah Stadium, Andhra Pradesh beat Chandigarh 2-1 but both teams had already bowed out with Maharashtra making the next stage from their group.

Controlling the match right from the start, Karnataka took the lead on the half hour but within three minutes, Jharkhand made a spirited comeback through Ravindra Singh to make it 1-1.

At the stroke of the half-time, RC Prakash helped Karnataka regain the lead, while the second-half saw a flurry of goals with Ngurneilal scoring twice.J Murali struck Karnataka’s third one minute into the second half with J Satish Kumar making it it 4-1  in the 72nd minute.

Ngurneilal then scored two back-to-back goals in the 73rd and 88th minutes to complete the rout for Karnataka.

Karnataka had won their first match against Meghalaya by a narrow 1-0 margin, courtesy a Don Bosco strike, on the opening day of the tourament.

Maharashtra drew first blood through Darren Caldeira in the 11th minute, while Surajit Bose converted a penalty in the 19th minute to make it 2-0 inside the first-half.
In the second-half, Anees Koraliyadam scored in the 48th and 62nd minutes for Maharashtra to complete the rout. In the inconsequential cluster II match, Duty Kumar Mahato 21st minute and W Vijay Kumar 58th minute scored for Andhra Pradesh.
Chandigarh reduced the margin through Harkeet Singh in the 81st minute.