By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: Defending champions Mizoram reached the final of the fourth Dr T Ao Memorial Football Tournament with a 1-0 win over Arunachal Pradesh at the JN Stadium, Polo, on Monday afternoon.
Arunachal started well with a couple of early opportunities.
Tadar Kojum received the ball on the left flank and passed the ball to a waiting Toko Polium outside the box and directly in front of the Mizoram goal. He took a strong right-footber, but missed the goal in the sixth minute.
In the 10th minute Kojum had a perfect opportunity to put the minnows in the lead. Receiving a low pass on the left flank he was unmarked, but may have just felt the pressure as his strike failed to come cleanly off the boot.
Just on the half hour mark, an Arunachal defender’s clumsy bicycle kick gave the ball straight to Mizoram’s V Laltanpuia, but his strong shot went straight to the goalkeeper.
Mizoram had the majority of the chances in the latter part of the first half, but Arunachal resisted bravely and the first session ended all square at 0-0.
Mizoram signalled their intent after the restart and pressed forward.
Their best chance came three minutes into the second half when AP’s keeper Tadu Taka failed to collect the ball and Lalrinpuia had a chance to put his team ahead, but his shot hit the crossbar and bounced into safety.
Toko Taker had the best chance for AP with a shot that went over the crossbar in the 54th minute.
Just before 60 minutes Taka was involved in a collision with a Mizoram player after he failed to collect the ball cleanly and the resulting goal was disallowed, much to the disappointment of the vocal Mizoram fans.
The unrelenting pressure applied by the defending champions finally paid dividends in the 74th minute when substitute Lalfakawma got to a cross on the left flank and put the ball in past Taka, giving his team a 1-0 lead.
Arunachal, despite showing a lot of fighting spirit, were guilty of making a few too many errors in the second half. They failed to hold onto the ball, which meant that they were scrambling in defence for much of the session.
They managed to deny Mizoram another goal, but couldn’t score one of their own and Arunachal thus fell in the semis and will have to content themselves with a shot for third place on Tuesday.