Imphal, Feb. 6: In an exciting tie today, Manipur Police Sports Club came up from behind to hold Youth Welfare Club, Thambalkhong, to a 3-3 draw at their home ground in a second leg match of the 2nd Manipur State League.

Though Youth Welfare held on to a comfortable 3-1 lead till the 70th minute, a lacklustre display in the last 20 minutes gave the Manipur cops enough opportunity to bounce back into the match.

The match began with both the teams failing to open the goalmouth till 30 minutes into the game. However, the Manipur cops took the lead when Ksh. Kanta netted the first goal from a penalty kick.

A goal down, the runners-up team in the league tally came back strongly in front of a huge home crowd. S. Herojit scored the equaliser in the 35th minute. The second goal came just before the half time whistle, when L. Herojit caught the opponent keeper on the wrong foot to take the score to 2-1.

The Youth Welfare boys did not relax their pace and made some great runs in the second half. Their efforts were soon rewarded when L. Indramani Singh netted the final goal for the side from an excellent left footer. However, the players soon traded their pace with overconfidence, and the opponents seized the chance to make a comeback. N. Deshkumar scored the team’s second goal in the 70th minute.

A minute later, the Manipur cops received a penalty corner during another run into the opponent defence. I. Nilakumar headed the corner kick by Kanta to draw parity with Youth Welfare.

In other matches today, Southern Sporting Union beat North Imphal Sporting Association 3-1 while All Moirang Football Association held league toppers North Eastern Re-Organisation and Cultural Association to a goaless draw.

Vasco in final: Vasco Club of Goa edged out ONGC, Mumbai, 6-4 in the tiebreakers to enter the final of the 3rd OIL Challenge Gold Cup Football meet at the Nehru Maidan in Duliajan today, adds our correspondent from Dibrugarh.