The Santosh Trophy returned to West Bengal’s grasp after a gap of six years as they defeated Goa 1-0 deep into stoppage time through a slick finish from Manvir Singh at the Bambolim Stadium on Sunday.
The win gave West Bengal an unprecedented 32nd Santosh Trophy title, and a sixth win in the final against Goa.
It was Mridul Banerjee’s side who threatened for much of the contest. Despite attacking the Goan goal at regular intervals, West Bengal failed to get past keeper Bruno Colaco, who put in another excellent display.
After a below-par display from both teams in the first half, the game sprang to life with Goa making a positive start in the second period. West Bengal keeper Sankar Roy, though, did well to thwart Goa during this passage of play. Roy did not let in a single goal during this tournament, going 581 minutes without conceding.
West Bengal soon found their rhythm and Colaco showed great determination to deny Manvir Singh and Basant Singh during the last 10 minutes of normal time.
Just two minutes into extra-time, West Bengal blew a wonderful chance to break the deadlock, striking the post twice from close range. It seemed like the Goans were trying to take the game into a penalty shootout.
Just when it seemed like the West Bengal attackers were getting bogged down, Ronald Singh unleashed a delightful curling pass at the goalmouth. Manvir Singh showed great control before smashing home the winner.
Brief score:
- Goa 0 lost to West Bengal 1 (Manvir Singh)
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