The Hindu : Sport / Football : Titanium beats Malabar United, makes it to the final

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Titanium beats Malabar United, makes it to the final

Principal Correspondent

Titanium meets SBT in the final on Saturday
Malabar United was playing only its second tournament in the State

THIRUVALLA: Weary legs they must be. A good number of players in the Titanium team are above 30 or in that zone.

But on Thursday, the former champion from Thiruvananthapuram used all the experience to good effect as it defeated a fighting Malabar United 2-1 and entered the final of the 32nd State inter-club football championship at the Public Stadium here.

Malabar United, the professional side from Kozhikode which was formed a few months ago, was fast but Titanium’s passes and timing were just perfect.

Cleetus, 34 and diminutive, had a big hand in Titanium’s success. He was all over, was quick to pounce on passes and feed the men in front regularly.

Shajahan gave Titanium the lead in the 32nd minute, guiding a smart cross from Shabeer from the right into the goal. But P.R. Raju brought the equaliser for Malabar seconds before the break thriving on a defensive error.

The second half was hotly contested and Malabar United kept the Titanium goalkeeper busy throughout.

But at the other end, Renjith Kunimmel worked his way up quietly through the left flank, dodged past a couple of defenders and placed the ball in to give Titanium the advantage again.

Malabar, which was playing just its second tournament in the State, tried desperately for the equaliser and the talented Jack N. Sebastian almost got one in with a powerful shot. But the ball rebounded off the crosspiece and narrowly failed to get in.

“We were very unlucky,” the Malabar United coach P.K. Rajeev said. “But I’m happy with my boys, they lost but they performed well and fought hard.”

Titanium, the champion three years ago, will meet State Bank of Travancore in Saturday’s final while Malabar United will fight for the third place with Kochi’s Central Excise on Friday.

The result: Semifinals: Titanium (Thiruvananthapuram) 2 (Shajahan 31, Renjith Kunimmel 55) bt Malabar United (Kozhikode) 1 (P.R. Raju 45).

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