Santosh Trophy: Kerala play out draw with Services, finish third in group

Yupia (Arunachal Pradesh): Kerala and Services played out a 1-1 draw in their final Group A match of the Santosh Trophy National Football Championship here on Friday.

Sajeesh E put Kerala ahead in the 22nd minute by heading home a cross by Arjun V. Services struck in injury time through a header by Samir Murmu as the teams went into the break 1-1.

The teams failed to break the deadlock in second half as Kerala missed out on a top-two finish in the group.

Goa and Assam split the points after a thrilling 3-3 draw in the afternoon kick-off. Assam rallied from a two-goal deficit to make it 3-2 before Goa salvaged a point with a late strike.

Services topped the group with 10 points from five matches followed by Goa (nine). Kerala ended up third with eight points while Assam finished fourth with seven points. All fours teams had already booked their spots in the quarterfinals.

Kerala will meet the second-placed team from Group B in the fourth quarterfinal on Tuesday (7 pm).