Guwahati: Odisha went down fighting in the opening match of the Santosh Trophy final round at Assam’s Silapathar football stadium.
Up against Meghalaya, runners-up in the 2022-23 edition of the national football championship, Odisha fought hard against a tough opponent in the Group B clash.
Baby Sunday Marngar scored in the 23rd minute to give Meghalaya the lead. It turned out to be the match as Odisha failed to find the equaliser in the remaining time of well over an hour.
In other Group B contests, Kerala came from behind to beat Punjab 3-1 with three goals in a span of seven minutes in the second half.
Services and Railways began their campaign with a hard-fought 1-1 draw.
Odisha’s next match is against Services on January 24, followed by fixtures against Kerala (January 26), Railways (January 29) and Punjab (January 31).
