Santosh Trophy Final Player Ratings: Bikash Thapa strikes for Services in close encounter against Punjab

Amandeep Singh had left the field early for the home side due to an injury.

Punjab bowed down to Services, in what turned out to be an epic finale of the Santosh Trophy, held in Ludhiana. At the end of 90-minutes, Bikash Thapa's 61st-goal turned out to be the difference maker, with Services being crowned champions of the competition's 74th-edition.

Here are our player ratings from the game:

Punjab

Sathbir Singh - 6.0

Satbir Singh was frequently put under pressure by Bikash Thapa and company but stood firm against the opposing attacker. However, a defensive error by Harjinder led to Services scoring a goal.

Sukhjit Singh - 6.0

Punjab's right-back was very good in attack as well as defence. He was the untiring workhorse of his team, providing a few good crosses for the attackers. He also made a vital save in injury time of first half to deny Harikrishna an attempt at goal.

Mohd. Asif - 5.0

Asif was very poor in the game as he was unable to mark Bikash Thapa in the game and was constantly beaten by Thapa's pace. However, he made sure that he didn't make any defensive errors

Harjinder Singh - 5.0

Harjinder did a decent job at the heart of defence until an error by him, resulted in Thapa scoring the match's solitary goal.

Navjot Singh - 6.0

The full-back was good offensively as well as defensively; providing good crosses but couldn't find Rajbir Singh even once.

Parmjit Singh - 5.0

Parmjit was very poor, constantly losing possession easily. He was assigned set-piece duties as well, but failed to provide any good delivery into the box.

Gurlal Singh - 5.0

Gurlal was also poor in the midfield as he misplaced passes way too often and also lost possession easily.

Sunny Singh - 5.5

Sunny did a decent job in midfield with some good passes but didn't pose any threat to the opposing side.

Vikrant Singh - 5.5

Vikrant was really poor on the right-hand side and didn't pose any threat to Services Goalkeeper Vishnu. He was efficiently marked by Anoop Pauly. However, his shot hit the crossbar in the 76th-minute.

Taranjit Singh - 5.5

The Punjab captain was assigned left wing duties but couldn't do a significant job. He was replaced by Jaspreet Singh in the 73rd minute.

Amandeep Singh - N/A

Amandeep suffered a knock in the 5th-minute and was substituted early

Substitutes

Rajbir Singh - 4.0

Replaced Amandeep earlier in the game but was so poor that he himself got substituted towards the end of the game.

Jaspreet Singh - 5.0

Jaspreet replaced Taranjit on the 73rd minute but failed to make any significant contribution.

Sukhpreet Singh - 4.0

Sukhpreet replaced Rajbir in the 84th-minute and failed to make any contribution.

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Services

Vishnu Vk - 7

The Services custodian comfortably dealt with few threats posed by Punjabi attackers. However, he made two crucial saves in the 23rd and 76th-minute.

Nitin - 6.5

Nitin did a great job as right-back linking very well with the midfielders and strikers. He also made sure Taranjit didn't cut through the left-hand side.

Herojit Singh - 7

Herojit Singh and his defensive partner were rock solid against Punjabi attackers. and didn't allow them any goalscoring opportunities.

Suresh Meitei - 7.5

The Services captain was the best player on the pitch along with Bikash Thapa. Suresh marshalled his defence very well and made sure his side kept a clean sheet.

Anoop Pauly - 6.0

The left-back created many chances but was unable to find Bikash Thapa at times. He marked Karanjit well and denied him to cut through the right-hand side.

Sushil Shah - 6.5

Sushil was very good in midfield for Services making some good runs in the park and also making some good tackles towards the end.

Mohammad Danish - 6.5

Danish was also good in midfield for Services. He made some individual runs and provided a couple of through balls.

Lallawmkima - 4.0

He was poorest among his teammates. The #10 was invisible throughout the game.

Benno Ba - 5.5

The right-winger played a decent game combining well on the right-hand side with Nitin. However, he was replaced just before the hour mark.

Harikrishna AU - 6.5

Harikrishna started the game as a left winger. He was constantly stretching the Punjab defence. He took a shot on goal in 5th minute of the game but the Punjab goalkeeper did well to stop it.

Bikash Thapa - 8.0

Bikash was the standout performer in the game, constantly troubling Punjab's defence with his pace and skill. He made the most of the defensive error by Punjab's defenders and scored a goal.

Substitutes

Sabir Khan - 4.5

Sabir Khan hardly made any contribution in the win.

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Rajak Ahmed - N/A

Was bought in the 89th minute and no time for him to be rated