Goa, Manipur post narrow wins

Riding on a last minute penalty conversion by Meviton Fernandes, Goa beat Rajasthan 2-1 in the opening Group B quarter-final league match in the Junior National football championship in Jaipur on Thursday.

In another match, last year's runners-up Manipur beat Kerala by a solitary goal, scored by Vishal Thapa in the 15th minute.

Goa went into the lead in the fourth minute throught Joe Rodrigues and held on to it to cross over 1-0 at half-time. Rajasthan found the equaliser through Rakesh Kumar two minutes into the second half and fought with determination. But when it appeared that match would end in a draw, they conceded the penalty.

Bernardo Pires made a fine opening and reached the top of the box, where he was brought down by Hitendra Jhala. The referee promptly pulled out the red card and awarded a penalty to Goa.

Despite losing, Rajasthan impressed with their performance. Earlier, they had fought back from a 0-2 deficit to beat Madhya Pradesh in the first round and reach the quarters.

In the first match of the day, Manipur beat Kerala 1-0 when Vishal Thapa converted a pass by Kanta Singh.

Manipur were more defensive, adopting the 4-4-2 format while Kerala played the more attacking 4-3-3.

Manipur looked content with defending as Kerala went all out to find the equaliser but in vain.