Football: Bengal drub Rajasthan 8-1

NEW DELHI, Sept 14: It was the kind of stuff Bengal coach Prasanta Banerjee was expecting from his side in the 61st National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy.
Banerjee's boys drubbed minnows Rajasthan 8-1 in a Cluster III encounter in Faridabad on Thursday. The winners led 5-0 at half-time.
Bolstered by a four-goal burst by Vimal Pariyar, who scored the tournament's first hat-trick, Bengal enjoyed the upperhand right from the start with Sasti Duley slotting home the first goal early on.
Suman Dutta made it 2-0 seven minutes later. With two quick goals, Bengal went on a rampage. Rajasthan defenders tried hard to keep the Bengal forwards in check but Tarif Ahmed added to their misery, slamming home a brace - in the 26th and 34th minutes.
Pariyar, who has joined the East Bengal ranks after graduating from TFA this season, found the net in the 47th, 56th, 66th and 68th minutes to give his team a rousing start.
Surender Singh Rathore reduced the margin for Rajasthan nine minutes before the final whistle. "We're happy with the performance given the fact that this Bengal side is playing without any big name," said skipper Sandip Nandy.
"It is a young side. Santosh Trophy offers them the best opportunity to showcase their talent. I'm sure the current batch of players will do well in the upcoming matches as well," the skipper added.
Bengal, winner of Santosh Trophy a record 29 times, will lock horns with Madhya Pradesh in their next engagement on September 18. A win against MP will see them through to the play-off qualifiers for a place in quarterfinal league.
In the other match of the day at Gurgaon, hosts Haryana kicked-off on a winning note (3-1) against Pondicherry. Habib Khan, Sunit Mishra and Praveen Arora scored a goal each to lodge full points for the hosts in a Cluster I match.