The Hindu : Sport / Football : KSEB powers into final

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, May 16, 2005

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Sport - Football

KSEB powers into final

Principal Correspondent

THRISSUR: They were lucky to top their group on lots. But the young men from KSEB, Thiruvananthapuram, needed no luck on a humid Sunday evening here at the Sree Kerala Varma College Ground, as they crushed Central Excise, Kochi, 4-0 and stormed into the final of the Royal Challenge State football league.

Renjith (15th minute), V.M. Girish (18th) and Ramesh (41st and 82nd) were the scorers. The Excisemen, who had knocked the State inter-club champion, Travancore Titanium out of the competition, had an eminently forgettable game. They were not allowed to make an impression in this game by a well-balanced KSEB side.

Masterstroke

Fourteen minutes into the game, the capital team made its first substitution, bringing in Renjith for Binoop, and it seemed a masterstroke.

For, Renjith struck in the very next minute, volleying in beautifully from just outside the box on the right.

Before long, Girish left his mark on the game with a zero angle shot, also from the right, that beat the Excise custodian Shinu Joseph, who probably didn't expect it at all. Girish was expected to give a pass to his teammates waiting inside the box, but he found an easier and prettier way to score.

The third goal too was spectacular, as Ramesh came up with a fine side-volley from outside the box to put Excise virtually out of the contest in the opening half itself. And he also put the final nail on the Kochi side's coffin, slotting in a through ball from Sunil Kumar inside the box.

It was the day's only goal, which wasn't special.

In the second semifinal on Monday, SBT, Thiruvananthapuram, takes on Viva Kerala, Kochi.

Vijayan honoured

Meanwhile, former Indian captain I.M. Vijayan and T.K. Chathunni, one of the most successful coaches in club football in India of our time, were honoured by the Calicut University Ex-Footballers Association at a function here on Sunday.

Earlier in the day, Vijayan was the guest star in an exhibition match at the Sree Kerala Varma College Ground, as the golden oldies — some of them not so old — of Calicut University fielded two teams and took on each other.

C.V. Pappachan, K.P. Sethumadhavan, Victor Manjila, M.M. Jacob, K.F. Benny. Jose P. George, Solly Xavier, Itty Mathew, C.P.M. Abdul Rasheed, Martin Mathew, and the man who coached them all at the university, C.P.M. Usman Koya were among those who played the game early in the morning.

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