Bhubaneswar 26-Jul-2010 132
Orissa did reasonably well in the 64th National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy but missed the quarterfinal berth narrowly at Kolkata today. Led by A Naresh, Orissa tied for the top spot in Cluster-VIII along with Mizoram and Railways. All three teams posted two wins and suffered one defeat each. However, Mizoram advance to the last-eight round as their goal difference was better than the other two sides.
Orissa started their campaign on an impressive note, outplaying Mizoram 3-1. But a 0-4 defeat in the next match against Railways spoiled their chances. Even a thumping 3-0 win over Bihar in the last cluster match did not prove enough to take them to the quarterfinals.
In the three league matches, Orissa scored six goals and conceded two. Sheikh Mustaqim was the star performer of the side, scoring a brace each against Mizoram and Bihar. Maheswar Das and Mohammad Ehsan Khan netted the other two goals against Mizoram and Bihar respectively.
