Good news for Karnataka football fans. Karnataka regained the Santosh Trophy, symbol of supremacy in National football, after a gap of 54 years defeating Meghalaya in the final at the King Fahd Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on a sensational Sunday. Santosh Trophy: Karnataka regain Santosh Trophy after 54 years.
This is the first time the State has emerged as the champion after being rechristened as Karnataka. It was way back in 1968-69 that the trophy was won at home as Mysore, defeating Bengal in the replayed final after the first had ended in a goalless draw.
The late Krishnaji Rao then led the Mysore team with players like Amjad Khan, A. D. Nagendra, Dasrath, and a host of others in the talented team. Karnataka had made the semi-final on several occasions in the past but were done in by some atrocious decision by the respective referees denying them a place in the final.
Fortunately for them, this time there were no hiccups and they emerged as the deserving winners. After getting the better of a strong Services team in the semi-final, Karnataka’s chances were rosy as Meghalaya were in the final for the first time in their history. Perhaps they were overawed by the occasion.
Karnataka took the lead in the very second minute when a Sunil Kumar shot got deflected off a defender and landed into the net. But Meghalaya fought back and restored parity when Brolington converted a penalty in the 9th minute. But in the 19th minute, Bekey Oram tapped home from close to make it 2-1 for Karnataka.
A minute before the half time whistle, Robin Yadav’s free-kick curled in to give Karnataka a 3-1 lead. However, Meghalaya striker Sheen curled in a right footer in the 60th minute to give Meghalaya some hopes. They came close on many occasions but an equaliser eluded them till the very end.
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