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Girish's late strike propels MEG to title win

Bengaluru: In a keenly contested finale against HAL, MEG and Centre claimed the C. Puttaiah Memorial football trophy here on Sunday .

At the Bangalore Football Stadium, Girish V.K's late header for MEG separated the two local rivals.

The match started off with frantic action with Suman Kumar's header being ruled out for offside. It then turned into a lull contest with both teams trying to control the pace of the match.

It wasn't until the dying moments of the first half that both team made presentable chances.

HAL's R.C Prakash played a quick one-two with Emmanuel before charging at goal from the left only to have the ball stolen from his feet by MEG goalkeeper Amit Shaw, while his opposite number had to pull off a good save to deny Dipen Thapa's goal bound effort.

The second half started with both teams going for the attack as Murali and Ajiraj. P missed goal-bound opportuni ties for HAL and MEG respectively .

Murali squandered another chance to put his side ahead when he shot over in the 52nd minute after some good work on the left from Emmanuel.

As the match wore on, MEG started looking more dangerous with Suman Kumar heading over for five yards in the 71st minute before HAL Keeper Amar Deb pulled off a stunning stop to deny Aiyappa.

With a draw looking the most likely outcome, MEG struck in the 89th minute with Girish jumping the high to meet Aiyappa's lofted corner to power in a header much to the delight of the crowd.

With the final whistle beckoning, HAL had a golden chance to equalize when Xavier Vijayakumar's cross was handled inside the penalty area by Kumar and Murali stepped up to take the spot kick. Much to the disappointment of the anxious supporters, the HAL number seven hit the upright before MEG cleared the ball.

( Source : dc )
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