By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: The Meghalaya state football team finished in third place at the Under-16 National Football Tournament, which was recently held in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.
The tournament, which was organised by the Union Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs, saw Meghalaya defeat Tamil Nadu by a solitary goal in the third place play-off match to bring back honours for the state.
Clement Siangshai scored the winning goal in the bronze medal match for Meghalaya.
During the preliminary rounds, the Meghalaya team had defeated Madhya Pradesh 2-0 and Rajasthan by a comprehensive margin of eight goals to nil.
The state team then defeated another North-Eastern side, Mizoram, in the quarterfinal match in a tight contest, coming out the winners by four goals to three in a tie-breaker.
The team from Manipur proved to be a tad too strong, however, but the boys from Meghalaya put up a commendable performance, only losing by a margin of one goal, 1-2 in the semifinal.
The state team then came back strongly to defeat Tamil Nadu to finish third.
Head coach BL Nongbet and assistant coach B Bareh led the team on their trip to Odisha.
