Orissa bursts the Kerala bubble

Our Sports Reporter

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, MAY 25. The scowl on Kerala coach Andrews' face summed it all as his team lost by a solitary goal to a tactically superior Orissa in a quarterfinal league match of the 37th National junior football championship for the Dr. B.C. Roy Trophy at the Chandrasekharan Nair stadium here on Friday.

Earlier, West Bengal started its campaign on an impetuous note, hammering Uttar Pradesh 10-0. Bengal captain Supratik Ain showed the way with three goals (fourth, 48th and 49th) while striker Tarif Ahmed (33rd, 43rd and 57th), Mehtab Hussain (29th, 76th), Saikot Mondal (ninth) and Lakan Singh (61st) complemented him well.

Orissa doused the Kerala fire with its percentage game. Orissa did not do anything spectacular after surging ahead in the 13th minute and was content to hold on to its lead. It defended in numbers and launched into the offensive with quick breakaways.

Kerala had the better of the exchanges but the forwards lacked ideas once they entered the rival box and struggled to evade the off-side trap set by the Orissa defence.

Though the Kerala midfield played its part well, there was little harmony in the Kerala defence, and whenever Orissa broke free, its attack looked more convincing than that of Kerala's.

Sivadath Roni was the only Kerala player to show some dash upfront but strangely he was substituted in the second half, and thereafter Kerala's attack looked woefully out of sorts. Roni's replacement, R. Ranjith, remained largely anonymous on the field.

Orissa scored off the first real opportunity it got in the match. Shaikh Raju broke free on the left flank and his centre was headed towards the goal by Hemanta Das, but the ball landed on the feet of Kerala goalkeeper Sujan Suku and rebounded to Etwa Puran, who had all the time in the world to score.

Kerala retaliated with a string of good moves from the middle but the threat fizzled out once it neared the Orissa penalty box. The Orissa defence proved to be a tough nut to crack for the Kerala forwards who did not show any understanding.

The only occasion when a Kerala move became threatening was in the 27th minute when Sivadath Roni tore his way into the Orissa box and unleashed an angular shot which, however, narrowly missed the far post.

Kerala had 90 per cent of ball possession in the second half. But for all its dominance, it did not even have a decent look at the rival goal as Orissa defended with gusto. The defenders were so surefooted that they hardly made a mistake while Kerala squandered its advantage with aimless running and shooting.

Goal blitz

Bengal started like a superfast train, scoring twice in the opening 10 minutes. Captain Supratik Ain opened the floodgates, nodding in a Tarif Ahmed cross in the fourth minute. Two minutes later, Saikot Mondal increased the lead with a right-footer from the top of the box. The twin reverses were demoralising for U.P. which caved in without much fight.

However, Bengal had to wait till the 29th minute to get its third goal when Mehtab Hossain's 18-yard free-kick was bang on target.

Bengal swelled its lead when U.P. goalkeeper Badruddin Ansari hardly made an effort to stop a long-ranger from Tarif Ahmed as the ball crashed into the top of the net.

U.P. simply disintegrated against the sustained Bengal attack in the second half. Though goalkeeper Ansari was substituted with Qasim, it made little difference to the outcome as Bengal scored at will.

Tarif netted his second goal in the 43rd minute while Supratik put himself on the scoreboard twice in just one minute as Bengal scored three goals in the opening phase of the second half.

Bengal then slowed the tempo and substituted both Tarif and Supratik, which reduced the victory margin.

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