Services stands to defend its title as it beat Karnataka 3-2 at the Nehru stadium on Sunday to top group-B of the South Zone qualifiers and advance to the main draw of the Santosh trophy.
Vivek Kumar helped Services get on the board first, striking in the eighth minute.
Vivek and Arjun Tudu connected with taut, measured taps paired with intense running, and chances were created.
But the latter missed with a long-ranger and Vivek could not get his head to the ball in another instance.
Another opportunity was thwarted by Karnataka goalkeeper Kabir, who went down to his left and warded off Britto’s header.
At the other end, Karnataka’s Arun Pondey missed two clear chances, the first well-supplied by Sanju Kumar.
It was a penalty that the equaliser came off; Anto Xavier shot home after Arash Preet Singh hand-balled.
Services did not relent even in the second half though a draw would have been enough for it to advance.
Instead, it struck twice more.
Xavier scored off another penalty, but that only helped Karnataka reduce the gap.
Puducherry has had a meek campaign. The side has been easy to bully throughout.
Against Andhra Pradesh, it was desperate in its quest for a goal in the first half, but to no avail even as they were scored against four times.
So abject was Puducherry’s misery that when forward Sugumaran’s limp-footed effort failed to threaten the goal, coach A. Praveen exclaimed: “Why can’t you just power it?”
The striker also missed penalty in the 45th minute.
Sugumaran’s consolation strike in the second half, however, ensured that his team got on the board at least.
The results:
Services 3 (Vivek Kumar 8, 60, Francis 74) by Karnataka 2 (Anto Xavier 45-pen, 83-pen).
Andhra Pradesh 4 (Mujeeb 4, 25, Santosh 18, Niroshan Mani 27) bt Puducherry 1 (Sugumaran 48).
Points table (read as team, played, won, drawn, lost, goal difference, points):
Group-A: Tamil Nadu 2, 1, 1, 0, 3, 4; Kerala 2, 1, 1, 0, 2, 4; Telangana 2, 0, 0, 2, -5, 0
Group-B: Services 3, 3, 0, 0, 14, 9; Karnataka 3, 2, 0, 1, 4, 6; Andhra Pradesh 3, 1, 0, 2, 1, 3; Puducherry 3, 0, 0, 2, -19, 0.
