Dimapur, March 26: Nagaland Police played out a thrilling draw 2-2 against Central Industrial Security Forces (CISF) in their first match of the 68th edition of Bharat Ratna Lokopriya Gopinath Bordoloi Trophy football tournament on matchday-3 today here at Ghilakuri in Sipajhar, Assam.
In the match, Bhola (7) opened the scoring but Nagaland fought back and their striker Khwetelhi Thopi got back the equaliser in the 24th minute.
CISF went ahead again in the second half through Md Khaleed (57). However, Limakumzuk Ao had better ideas as he found the equaliser through penalty in the 68th minute for Nagaland Police.
Despite a red card for Nagaland defender in the last quarter of the match, Nagaland team managed to keep the match in stalemate till the end of the final whistle.
Nagaland Police are clubbed in Group C with CISF, former champ Oil India FC, Bodousa SC. Winner of each Group will only qualify for the semifinal round in the tournament.
So, Nagaland will still have two more matches to play in the group matches to qualify for the semifinal round. Nagaland team will play their first match on March 26 against CISF.
In the second match, the team will play against Oil India FC on Sunday at 3 p.m. and the last group match on March 29 against Bodousa Sports Club.
Bordoloi Trophy is one of the oldest and most popular football championships in North eastern India. The trophy is an annual Indian football tournament organized by Guwahati Sports Association (GSA). The winners will get Rs 2 lakh while the runners up will get richer by Rs 1 lakh.
(Page News Service)
