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Kuttymani sees Maharashtra through

Rayan Rozario

Disappointment for five-time champion Kerala

— Photo: M. Periasamy

Breaking free: Maharashtra’s Alex Ambrose (12) weaves his way past Kerala’s Justine Stephen (18) and Sushanth Mathew (7). Maharashtra’s lone-goal win took it to the quarterfinals.

Coimbatore: Kuttymani Sampath Kumar’s late strike saw former champion Maharashtra defeat a young Kerala by a lone goal and enter the quarterfinal of the 63rd National football championship for the Santosh Trophy at the Nehru Stadium here on Sunday.

Kerala’s slow-paced show initially raised a few eyebrows. But, it quickly shook it off with some stupendous moves upfront. And, the 8000-odd holiday crowd turned jubilant.

Strikers Bineesh T. Balan, Sakeer and K.P. Zubair were busy and purposeful as ever. They were able to weave fine patterns all over the rival’s half. However, the strong Maharashtra defence coped with the pressure in an emphatic manner.

Taking control

After about half hour’s play, Maharashtra quickly settled and took full control of the midfield and the back. And, everything suddenly seemed to be going so meticulously to its plan. Steven Dias’s presence gave the team a huge lift. The skipper came up with some stunning crosses from the right but the forwards struggled to turn the ball home.

In the second half, Kuttymani, Paresh Shivalkar, Steven and Alex T. Ambrose went on an all out attack. And, the Kerala defence, for the first time, stood fully exposed.

K.T. Nawas, the custodian, was not comfortable under the bar but, thankfully, most of the shots he had to deal with were of the loose variety.

Kutty plays sweet tune

Maharashtra found a saviour in Kuttymani in the 83rd minute. On this occasion, it was Steven the provider and Kuttymani the finisher. The skipper, a quick and powerful runner, controlled an awkward ball instinctively from the left and packed a pass into the danger area.

Another creative touch by Paresh Shivalkar sped Nawas’s way. The Kerala custodian, in a rush of blood, failed to collect it clean, and the 23-year-old Kuttymani, the Mumbai FC star from Bangalore, presented with a golden chance, moved in quick and shot the ball home.

“I am glad we won,” said an elated Arshad Hussain, Maharashtra’s coach, after the match. “We approached the game as the final. Our forwards stood the test well. They garnered great support from the midfield. But to put it plain, it was a total team effort,” he added.

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