A midfield tussle between Manipur (in yellow) and Arunachal Pradesh players at Khuman Lampak main stadium on Monday. Telegraph picture

Sub-junior soccer

Imphal, Jan. 17: Manipur posted a 3-2 goal win against Arunachal Pradesh in the qualifying round of the 33rd Sub-junior National Football Championship for the Coca Cola Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy played at Khuman Lampak main stadium today.

After their second victory against Arunachal Pradesh in the league, Manipur will meet Mizoram on Wednesday for the decider to a berth to the final round along with Tripura and Assam from the Northeast. Mizoram qualified for the qualifying league final from Group B after Meghalaya had to pull out of the qualifying round.

Arunachal Pradesh started off on the offensive today. Anne Linggi provided the early lead in the second minute of play from a solo run to slam home the first goal for the team. Unable to read the soggy field, the Manipur team missed a few chances.

The game, however, slowly swerved back to the other side with a penalty for Manipur that ensured the equaliser in the 34th minute from a neat shot by M. Bidyashwor to level the score at 1-1. Back in the contest, Manipur geared up with more verve and soon consolidated with the second goal in the 36th minute, as Kh. Vicky Meitei scored from an open shot after collecting a chipping header from W. Angousana to take a 2-1 lead in the first half. The hosts sealed the match in the 67th minute. Th. Chingkheinganba, dribbling along the left goalline, scored from an awkward angle to make the score 3-1 which finally tallied 3-2.