The Hindu : Sport / Football : Titanium storms into last four

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Apr 17, 2006

Sport

Sport - Football

Titanium storms into last four

Principal Correspondent

KOZHIKODE: Travancore Titanium moved into the semifinals of the Royal Challenge State football league by defeating KSEB 2-0 at the Corporation Stadium here on Sunday.

The win helped Titanium top Pool `A' with four points. Defending champion KSEB also made it to the last four after coming second with three points.

The semifinal line-up will decided only on Monday after the Pool `B' match between SBT and Viva Kerala. Both teams have already made the grade, but the match will determine the Pool standings.

Sunday's game was a story of wasted opportunities, messed up corner kicks and free kicks as neither Titanium nor KSEB looked capable of a producing a goal in the first half.

Not surprisingly, it took a penalty kick to break the deadlock. In the 40th minute, Jasser fouled Titanium's T. Usman inside the penalty box. Abdul Hameed made no mistake from the spot kick.

Titanium went 2-0 up in the 58th minute after KSEB custodian Jithesh Kumar made a mess of a lame strike by Jackson Jacob, who was fed by Usman from the left flank. In fact, Jackson was so stunned by his good fortune that he took some time before celebrating his goal.

However, there was no such luck for KSEB. The team was hardly helped by its strikers, especially Rajesh Kumar, who showed a rare ability to miss the open target with amazing regularity.

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