Dimapur, Sep. 27 (EMN): The St. Columbus Collegiate School from Jharkhand lifted the Subroto Cup trophy after they defeated Army Boys Company 2-1 in the U-17 Junior Boys final of the 58th Subroto Football Tournament at the floodlit Dr Ambedkar Stadium here today. Paolenmang Tuboi struck the winner in the 50th minute after the teams were locked 1-1 at the interval. Under the lights, the beaming winning squad deservingly received the Cup from Air Marshal SB Deo, Vice-Chief of the Air Staff and the chief guest, who gave it away during the presentation ceremony that followed soon after the final in front of a packed house even as runners-up team of Army Boys cheered.The presence of Bhaichung Bhutia, the guest of honour and former India captain, added glitter to the function as he cheered for the two teams. The final had fewer thrills but more gimmicks from the spectators’ point of view as they had come to witness hard-core football actionfrom the teams under the lights. To that extent, the teams did disappoint the fans except for a phase when they played brilliant football before going into shell yet again, particularly in the second session. The reason for a cautious approach by the teams could be because of the pressure but it was something they could have avoided as in the first half when the teams attacked with purpose, it culminated in goals as Sandeep Kachhap put Jharkhand ahead in the seventh minute of the game. In fact, within the next 11 minutes the Army Boys had levelled when striker M. Haokip scored.The rest of the first half saw teams indulging in guarding their citadel than pursuing with real attacks. So much so, the teams simply used long passes which served nobody’s purpose though it was understandable under the circumstances. Yet, credit must go to the St Columbus boys who, using both flanks well and keeping a tight leash on the Army Boys, arrested the free-flowing rivals from making any deep inroads into their box before the teams went in for the lemon break.Returning to action in the second session, there was hardly any change in the script from either squad. To a large extent, both comfortably managed to thwart each other but at the same time missed a few goal-scoring opportunities emanating from reasonably good moves. Wild hits here and there in a hurry amplified frustration among the teams which eventually led to boredom in the stands.Yet, the end-result for Jharkhand proved right as the team had its last laugh and succeeded in their mission of winning the title.Fair Play Team; Meghalaya Best Goal Keeper; Sajal Bhawal (Army Boys) Best Coach; Subhash Rajak (Jharkhand) Best Player; Sj. Boilen Lhungdim (Jharkhand )
