Brilliant Meghalaya beat B’desh for place in final

Shillong, Aug 26: Meghalaya have reached the final of the U-15 boys’ Subroto Cup 2024 after they defeated Bangladesh 2-1 in the semifinal round in Bangalore on Monday.
Meghalaya are being represented in the U-15 boys’ category by Nongjri Presbyterian Secondary School of Ri-Bhoi, which won the state-level Subroto Cup last month.
Nongiri Presbyterian took the lead in the second half through a penalty, after a keenly-contested first half.
Marc (36’) converted from the spot for the lead which was equalised nine minutes later from a well worked move by Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protisthan.
Nafiq’s (43’) side footed finish found the top corner, equalling the scores and taking the game into extra time.
Namebanlam (58’) converted a brilliant team move to score the winning goal and send the school from Meghalaya into the final.
Meghalaya won all their Group B matches, starting with a 6-0 victory against Sri Lanka, then making it 7-0 versus ISSO and 8-0 over Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu. Chanjib had scored hat-tricks in each of these games.
Another team in the same group, Madhya Pradesh, were disqualified.
Meghalaya then beat Army Boys Company 2-0 in the quarterfinals on Saturday.
Meghalaya will face Major Dhyanchand Sports College, Uttar Pradesh in the summit clash on Wednesday.
Major Dhyanchand Sports College dominated the second semifinal from the start and looked in control of the game throughout against St Stephen’s School, Chandigarh.
They took the lead in the eighth minute after Arslan finished a low cross from the left wing. The Uttar Pradesh side doubled their advantage in the first half itself.
Abhinav, who was free inside the box, finished with ease after receiving a cross from the right wing.
Abhinav completed his brace in the second half, converting a header from a corner kick to complete a comfortable evening for the side from Uttar Pradesh.