Manipur top group

Defending champion Manipur will meet last year's runners-up Bengal while Orissa face Bihar in the semi-finals of the Junior National football championship, for the Dr B C Roy trophy, in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday.

In the Group 'A' quarter-final-league on Wednesday, Manipur and Bihar fought out a 4-4 draw while Assam beat Maharashtra 2-1.

Manipur emerged leaders in Group 'A' with two wins and a draw while Bihar clinched the second spot with five points.

Assam secured four points while the fourth team, Maharashtra, lost all their three matches.

Manipur and Bihar were engaged in an engrossing tussle on a water-logged ground due to rain. Striker Syed Rahim Nabi played brilliantly for Bihar and scored all the four goals. He scored in the eighth , 23rd, 30th and 57th minutes.

For Manipur, Tiken Singh (4th, 71st), Sejalal Haokip (17th) and Shyamsunder Sharma (73rd) were the scorers.

Earlier, Assam started off in right earnest and scored their first goal in the eighth minute through striker Bhim Kanta Sonowal. The Maharashtra goalkeeper was shown the red card in the 16th minute for 'handling the ball' just outside the penalty box.

Reduced to ten players, Maharashtra strove for a win and equalised in the second -half through captain Steven Benedict Dias. Assam got the winning goal in the 62nd minute through Danny Muinao.