Mizoram play Tamil Nadu, Railways face Maha in Santosh Trophy

Siliguri: High flying Mizoram will look to extend their seven-match winning streak when they take on Tamil Nadu and a buoyant Railways face Maharashtra in the two semifinals of the 68th National Championships for Santosh Trophy at the Kanchenjunga Stadium here on Friday.

Mizoram have been the toast of this year`s nationals, steamrolling opponents more often than not en route the last-four stage. The North Eastern side has not only won all four of their Final Round matches from Group A but has also shown no mercy on its regional counterparts in the Zonals. Tamil Nadu, on the other hand, have had a roller-coaster ride so far winning two and losing two in the final round. Finishing second in Group A with six points from 4 matches, the two-time finalists will look to exploit the only chink in Mizoram`s armour, which has been their inexperience at this level. H Vanthalthangla coached Mizoram`s best performance is the final round appearance in the 2012 edition of the Santosh Trophy in Cuttack. "Mizoram have been playing really well. They are very fast and have some fleet-footed players in their ranks. We have to bring all our experience into play against them and capitalise on our chances," Tamil Nadu coach CM Ranjith said. "We have to counter them with our game plan. Technically they have the edge. If we can contain them in the first 20 minutes, it will be beneficial to us," added Ranjith. The second semifinal of the day could be a battle of attrition in the middle of the park with both Railways and Maharashtra boasting of a strong midfield. "It will be a touch and go affair," Maharashtra coach Irenio Vaz said. "The battle will be won in midfield, I believe, as both teams are very strong in the middle. Railways are a very good side. I have been watching them for the last three games and they play a good game. I feel we have a slight advantage in defense but all that can go haywire on the given day," Vaz added. The Maharashtra midfield boasts of holding midfielder Praneel Mendon, central medios Vijith Shetty and former United Sikkim player Linekar Machado, former Churchill Brothers, Pune FC, and Air India man Paresh Shivalkar and in-form Shahbaz Pathan who has scored two crucial goals for his side the final round. "They have a lot of experience in that midfield," Railways coach Souren Dutta said. "We will try to block their movement in the middle as that is the danger area. It will be a keenly fought contest and our boys are looking forward to it. We hope to continue the good form we showed against Goa." Railways also have a strong midfield with the likes of Dipankar Das, and Somi PT as fulcrums and former Kerala man Kenistan C and Sibra Narjary out wide. "Sibra is carrying a slight niggle but I am hopeful that he will be fit by tomorrow," informed the Railways coach. Narjary has been instrumental to Railways' success story scoring a stoppage-time winner against Tamil Nadu and also teeing up Jitendra Bramha brilliantly for the all-important equaliser in the last minute of their tie against West Bengal.