Services outclass West Bengal 4-1 to enter final

Srinagar, Jun 12 (UNI) S Raleng grabbed a hat-trick as Services continued their dream run, stunning last year's runners up West Bengal 4-1 in the semi-finals to enter the summit clash of the 62nd National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy here today.

Services had to wait for 22 minutes before S Raleng drew first blood for them. Raleng unleashed a powerful volley from the top of the box which gave no chance to the Bengal goalkeeper.

West Bengal also earned a number of scoring chances, but failed to find the equaliser.

It was Norgan Lama who made it 2-0 for the winners in the 79th minute when he scored from a solo move. But Mohun Bagan forward Lal Kamal Bhowmick reduced the margin for West Bengal a minute later.

Raleng completed his hat-trick, scoring two successive goals in the 80th and 90th minutes to make it 4-1 for Services.

The armymen are turning out to be the dark horses in this tournament. They had earlier defeated defending champions Punjab 1-0 and thrashed former champions Kerala 3-0 in the quarter-finals.

Punjab will meet Karnataka in the second semi-final here tomorrow.

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