Karnataka, Maharashtra in pre-quarterfinals of Santosh Trophy

Kolkata: Karnataka and Maharashtra cruised into the pre-quarterfinals from cluster I and II respectively in the 64th Senior National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy on Monday.

Karnataka drubbed Jharkhand 6-1 at the Howrah Stadium while Maharashtra downed Tripura 4-1 at the Barasat Stadium to qualify for the last-16 stage.

In an inconsequential cluster II match at the Khardah Stadium, Andhra Pradesh beat Chandigarh 2-1 but both teams had already bowed out with Maharashtra making the next stage from their group.

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Ruling the roost right from the start, Karnataka took the lead in the 31st minute but within three minutes, Jharkhand made a spirited comeback through Ravindra Singh to make it 1-1.

At the stroke of the half-time, RC Prakash helped Karnataka regain the lead, while second-half saw a flurry of goals with Ngurneilal scoring twice.

Soon after the changeover, J Murali struck while J Satish Kumar made it 4-1 for Karnataka in the 72nd minute.

Ngurneilal scored two back-to-back goals in the 73rd and 88th minutes to complete the rout for Karnataka.

Maharashtra drew first blood through Darren Caldeira in the 11th minute, while Surajit Bose converted a penalty in the 19th minute to make it 2-0 inside the first-half.

In the second-half, Anees Koraliyadam scored in the 48th and 62nd minutes for Maharashtra to complete the thrashing.

In the inconsequential cluster II match, Duty Kumar Mahato (21st) and W Vijay Kumar (58th) scored for Andhra Pradesh while Chandigarh reduced the margin through Harkeet Singh in the 81st minute.