A 2-1 victory over Railways helped Assam enter the quarterfinals of the 60th Santosh Trophy in Kozhikode on Monday.
Leading from the front, Assam Captain Sanjeeva Rongpi scored in each half to seal the issue in his team's favour even as Railways, handicapped by the absence of Ashim Biswas, who was red carded in the previous game, found it hard to find the second equaliser.
Assam entered the last eight of the championship by finishing on top of Cluster IV.
After squandering several scoring opportunities, it was Sanjeeva who gave Assam the lead by neatly connecting a pass from Rahazuddin Ahmed in the 40th minute.
Kasif Jamal levelled the score in the 54th minute when Railways was awarded a penalty for Thong Thang Kom's foul on R P Ashok Kumar.
However, Assam successfully converted a penalty, awarded due to Railway custodian Sangram Mukherjee's dangerous block on Thomson Langthasa, in the 61st minute.
Even as the match reached its dying moments, Kasif looked set to find the equaliser but unfortunately his shot hit the post.
In the match at Thiruvananthapuram, Jammu and Kashmir and Meghalaya bowed out of the championship after they played out a 2-2 draw in their last league engagement in Cluster III.
Orissa is leading with 6 points and Maharashtra is in second place with four in the cluster on the penultimate day of the Thiruvananthapuram segment ahead of the quarter final league slated to start in Kochi from November 11.
Striker Bilal Ahmed Nani put J&K ahead in the 28th minute by capitalising on a mid-field pass.
After equalising in the 65th minute through Freddy Kharpran, Mehalaya went ahead in the 77th minute when R Basaiadwmdit neatly netted a pass from the right flank.
J&K, however, restored parity in the 89th minute through mid-fielder Mehrajuddin.
Meghalaya defender Polin Lyngdoh was shown a red card for fouling Kamaljit Kumar.
