J&K started its campaign in Santosh Trophy football tournament (North Zone) on disappointing note as they were held to 1-1 draw by Delhi at Shardah University ground Noida on Tuesday.
In the group of four teams Punjab and J&K are considered pre-tournament favorites to qualify for the main round.
Delhi is not that too bad either but J&K always had decent record against them. In that perspective everyone expected J&K to get an easy win over Delhi in the opener and get positive start in the event. However, that did not happen as Delhi shocked J&K by holding it to 1-1 draw.
In the first half both teams were not able to score a goal. In second half J&K started well by dominating play. Danish gave J&K lead by scoring first goal of the match.
They got couple of more chances in between but failed to capitalize on those. Delhi desperate to score equalizer mounted frequent attacks. J&K in order to maintain lead went into shell, defending most of the time. That proved costly for them as in the last minute of the game Delhi was able to score equalizer and stun J&K.
J&K will now play its second match against Punjab on January 18 which is expected to be thriller while as it will play last match against Himachal Pradesh on January 20.