Hard-fought 3-4 defeat in final tiebreaker

Prayagraj: In a thrilling final match of the All India Himalayan Cup Senior Football Competition held today at the college ground in Dharamshala under the aegis of Himachal Pradesh Football Association, Northern Football Academy lost to Indranag Football Academy Dharamshala by 3-4 in the tiebreaker and became the runner-up.

In the first half of the match, players from both teams made excellent moves but the defenders and goalkeeper of the opposing team made good saves and the first half remained goalless. In the second half of the match (68th min) Northern Football Academy’s captain Harshit Ojha scored the first goal on a pass from forward player Vedant Tripathi. In the last minute of the match, Indranag Academy made a comeback in the match by scoring a goal. The score remained 1-1 till the full time. Even in the extra time, both the teams could not score any goal. A tiebreaker (penalty shoot-out) had to be resorted to to decide the winner and loser in which Northern Football Academy lost 3-4. Harshit, Vedant and Tejas scored the penalty goals for Northern.

Chief coach of the academy Indranil Ghosh informed that the chief guest of the prize distribution ceremony, Himachal Pradesh Football Association treasurer Naresh Rana, awarded the team trophy to the winner Indranag Football Academy, Dharamshala, and runner-up Northern Football Academy Prayagraj, and the players were awarded mementos. Northern’s captain Harshit Ojha was selected as the best player of the tournament.

According to the team’s head coach Indranil Ghosh, the team of players is as follows: Md. Asir Islam, Tejas Tiwari, Sanchit Kushwaha, Vedant Tripathi, Harshit Ojha (Captain), Aarav Mishra, Anurag, Prav, Vikrant Chaudhary, Abhay Kapoor, Luvansh, Bhagwan Das, Sahil, Rajesh, Adarsh. Head coach- Indranil Ghosh, assistant coaches- Rahul Verma, Vikram Singh Bisht, manager- Sushil Singh.