The Hindu : Sport / Football : SBT keeps its semifinal hopes alive

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Thursday, Apr 12, 2007
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SBT keeps its semifinal hopes alive

M.R. Praveen Chandran

KANNUR: State Bank of Travancore, Thiruvananthapuram, kept its semifinal hopes alive with a 2-1 win over Vasco SC, Goa, in the E.K. Nayanar Memorial Gold Cup international football tournament at the Municipal Jawahar stadium here on Wednesday.

Asif Saheer (2nd), Faizal Rahman (69th) scored the goals for the winner while Keke Ibrahim netted the consolation goal for Vasco in injury time.

Playing its third match in four days, SBT was pretty unconvincing in its victory over the Goans who suffered their second straight defeat in the tournament and are virtually out of reckoning for a place in the semifinals.

SBT went ahead probably from its first offensive move. Abdul Hakkim moved up into the Goan penalty box and his pass found an unmarked Saheer who slotted home from close.

On the defensive

But the Thiruvananthapuram side surprisingly then went into a defensive shell after taking the lead. It allowed the Goans to have more of the ball possession. However, the Goans disappointed as they failed to come up with any constructive moves to test the SBT defence.

Much of the action in the first half took place in the midfield with Goan forwards Angelo D'souza and Remidios Baretto wasting the rare opportunities that their side got in the first half.

The second half was lively with SBT shrugging off its defensive mindset.

But what made the telling difference in SBT's approach was the introduction of Faizal Rahman in place of a disappointing Asif Saheer — who apart from the opening goal did very little in the match — at the start of the second half.

Lifting SBT's spirtis

Faizal's speed and infectious enthusiasm lifted the SBT spirits. Faizal found enough support from his midfielders especially C.J. Rinil and the Thiruvananthapuram side enjoyed extended period of dominance early in the second half during which time the Vasco goal had a few close shaves.

Faizal, himself, missed a chance to score when he made a solo run into the Goan penalty box. But his shot hit goalkeeper Kattimani's body and the rebound was cleared away for a corner in the 65th minute.

SBT increased the lead in the 69th minute. The spadework for the goal was done by C.J. Rinil, who made his way into the heart of the Goan penalty area and drew the entire defence and goalkeeper out of their positions before squaring the ball to an unmarked Faizal who had no difficulty in tapping the ball in.

SBT again went into a defensive shell as tThe Goans attacked with verve. They were denied by a few good saves by Jean Christian but eventually he was beaten in the injury time. Keke managed to put the ball into the net in a goalmouth melee.

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