Manvir Singh’s 119th-minute goal does the magic for West Bengal who eventually went to beat Goa in the final of the 71st Santosh Trophy to lift their record 32nd Santosh Trophy silverware.
Incidentally, it’s the sixth instance when the Western Indian state went down to the Eastern Indian outfit in the Santosh Trophy final, last being in 1998-99.
Nicolau Colaco and Liston Colaco, who had a terrific game in the semi-final, put tremendous pressure on the West Bengal wing-backs until the end of the end of the first half. Basant Singh found the net towards the end of the first half but the referee ruled it offside.
In the second half, West Bengal came very close to scoring but the Goan goalkeeper Bruno, who eventually won the ‘Best Goalkeeper’ award, thwarted the effort to keep the match goalless.
The deadlock was not broken until the very last minute of the game. Substitute striker Manvir Singh curled the ball towards the far corner of the net to silent the 5,000-strong crowd at the GMC Bambolim Stadium in Goa to see their team lifting their sixth Santosh Trophy in the history of 71 years.