The Hindu : Sport / Football : State Bank of Travancore starts favourite

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Tuesday, May 08, 2007
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State Bank of Travancore starts favourite

Principal Correspondent

KOZHIKODE: The way Central Excise overcame Viva Kerala in the semifinals of the Western Union State football league at the Corporation Stadium here on Sunday was remarkable. The Kochi team had played a nearly flawless game to advance to its maiden State league final.

Its rival in Tuesday's final is SBT, a team struggling to live up to its reputation. The bankmen had performed badly in this year's NFL second division and must be desperate to regain the State league title after a gap of three years. They had beaten Excise 3-0 in the league match last Thursday.

"We will definitely put up a better performance than that," Excise coach, M.M. Jacob, said. "Though SBT is one Kerala team we have struggled against, the boys are more confident after their fine show against Viva in the semifinals."

SBT indeed starts the favourite. In M.A. Abdul Hakkim and A.G. Mohammed Aslam, it has two quality strikers and they have been in good form in the tournament too. With K.M. Abdul Noushad and C.J. Rinil ready to give them plenty of support, the Thiruvananthapuram team is expected to attack with confidence.

If the Excise defence does as well as it did against Viva, the final could produce some exciting moments. As for Excise, P.V. Javed and C.C. Hanson hold the key up front.

Titanium third

Meanwhile, Travancore Titanium inflicted a crushing 4-1 defeat on reigning champion Viva Kerala on Monday to take the third place. Ebin Rose (third and 43rd), Cleetus (35th) and Dhinraj Kumar (87th) scored for the Thiruranthapuram team in the play-off for the third place.

A.V. Sabeesh (66th) pulled one back for Viva.

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