NEW DELHI, Dec 23: West Bengal became the first team to qualify for the quarter-finals from Group C in the 20th National Sub-junior Football Championships for Justice Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy after they were held to a draw by Andhra Pradesh in their group match at Ambedkar Stadium here today.

Bengal have collected seven points from three games while AP completed their league engagements by securing five points from three games.

In the evenly-contested match, Andhra held an edge over Bengal for most part of the proceedings. Striker Mohd Bin Sayeed's two serious attempts went wide off the mark.

In another Group C match at Thyagaraj Nagar Sports Complex, Uttar Pradesh trounced Chandigarh 6-0, five of the goals coming in the second session. Manoj Yadav (20th and 76th), Mohd Sameer Khan (55th), Ranjan Pun (58th), Jamir Ahmed (68th) and Gyanender Kashyap (75th) scored for the winners. With the win, UP have collected four points from three matches while Chandigarh have drawn a blank from three games.

In a Group F encounter, Goa edged past Rajasthan 3-2 to gain three points after two games while Rajasthan have lost both their matches. Joseph Pereira, Samir Naik and Eusebio Louis scored for the winners while Vikram Singh scored both the goals for Rajasthan.

Tamil Nadu and Meghalaya played a goalless draw in group F while Orissa were held to a 1-1 draw by Maharashtra in Group D. Maharashtra's Ansari A Abdul Qadir put his side ahead in the 78th minute off a powerful grounder while Orissa's Lalit Lakra found the equaliser in injury time.

In a Group A game, Gujarat recovered from a 0-1 deficit to beat Daman and Diu 2-1. Paresh Barad and Chet Bahadur scored for Gujarat while WO Domugoa put Daman and Diu ahead in the 22nd minute.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.