IMPHAL, May 27: Manipur will clash with defending champion Bengal in the final of the Santosh Trophy on May 30 at JN stadium, Guwahati. In the second semi final played today at the same venue, Bengal defeated Railways by a solitary goal. All important goal for the defending champion was scored by Subhaiya in the 38th minute. Manipur had already booked a place in the final yesterday after defeating Services. The two teams had earlier met in the quarter final league round for Group – A and ended in a 2-2 draw. In the said match, Manipur was trailing by two goal but managed to level the score later in the match. When the scores were levelled at 2-2 and Manipur was dominating the match, Bengal officials complained of bad light and the match had to be stopped for about 15 minutes. In the quarter final league round, Manipur topped group-A with seven points while Bengal was second. In group-B Railways topped with nine points while Services shared same points with Goa and Punjab but enter semi final by toss. In the meantime, a team of the AMFA is planning to visit Guwahati to witness the final match primarily to motivate the state football team which is playing final for the second time in the history of Santosh trophy. The winner of this year’s Santosh trophy will richer by Rs 5 lakhs along with the trophy while runners-up team will bag Rs 3 lakhs with trophy. Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi is likely to witness the final match which also see several officials of All India Football Federation.
