Manipur, Bihar in final

Holders Manipur will cross swords with Bihar in the final of the 37th Junior National Football championships, for the Dr B C Roy trophy, on Sunday.

In the semi-finals in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday, Manipur notched a 2-1 win over last year's runners-up Bengal while Bihar trounced Orissa 6-0 after leading 4-0 at the breather.

In the first semi-final, Manipur started on a promising note and Shyamsunder netted both the goals in the first half.

In the 21st minute, Shaymsunder shot home off a pass from Tiken Singh and again netted in the 37th minute through a fine header.

Manipur would have won by a bigger margin had not Bhumeshore Singh and Shamsunder muffed two easy chances in the 32nd and 33rd minutes.

Bengal reduced the margin in the 53rd minute with a fine strike from Saikmot Mondal.

In the other match, Orissa surrendered meekly, thanks to a brilliant performance by Bihar striker Sye Rahim as three goals came from his boots in the 29th, 34th and 40th minute.

Avinash Thappa scored in 37th and 65th minute while Krishana Tudu completed the tally in injury time.