Delhi downed Odisha by Jaideep Singh’s late second-half goal in the concluding round of the Group B preliminary stage matches of the senior National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy at Pt Mehnga Singh Stadium, Banga (Punjab).
This helped Delhi collect the full quota of points and top the group with 13 points from four wins and a draw to ensure a ticket to the final round.
Host Punjab beat Haryana 2-0 to collect nine points from five matches and took the second spot in the group nudging Odisha (also on nine points) to the third spot on a better goal average.
The 32-time champion Bengal crashed out of the tournament finishing a poor fourth after managing eight points from two wins, two draws and a loss.
As it stands now, defending champion Karnataka, last season’s runner-up Meghalaya and host Arunachal Pradesh will be joined by the six toppers of the preliminary group stage and the three best second-place finishers in the final stage, which will be played in Itanagar.
The results: Group B: At Banga: Delhi 1 (Jaideep Singh 76) bt Odisha 0; Punjab 2 (Rohit Sheikh 23, Bipul Kala 90+1) bt Haryana 0. At Phagwara: Bengal 5 (Sumay Shome 16, Jiten Murmu 43, 59, Bijay Murmu 79, 82) bt Ladakh 0.
