The pressure was on the young Viva Kerala team, but the boys duly delivered: following an emphatic 4-1 win against ONGC Mumbai, the club will be Kerala's lone representative in the I-League 2009/2010.

 

It was an important win not only for the club, but also for Kerala, as this football-crazy state definitely needs a team in India's top league.

 

Ahead of the match, coach Sreedharan faced numerous problems as players like Bello Rasaq, Sathish Kumar, Lalu and Saleel were doubtful. And the captain K.V. Lalu as well as goalie Shahin Lal eventually had to sit out. Lalu's  replacement in the defensive midfield was P. Rahul while Anoop manned the goal.

 

Having failed to seal the promotion in earlier matches against Salgaocar SC and Pune FC, coach Sreedharan made sure that all of his young boys were determined to win this crucial match. "I told them that we worked very hard for 8 months. 'This is our only chance and we have to grasp it!'", explained the seasoned coach.

 

Recalling these words, the young team played at full throttle from the beginning. The efforts were rewarded when the heavily criticised Nigerian Badmus Babatunde scored his first goal in the 15th minute. Much to the jubilation of all the Viva Kerala fans, he added another one to his tally only five minutes later. 

 

In the 35th minute, however, India national striker Tarif Ahmed reduced the margin and one was hoping that Viva could hold on to the lead as a draw would not have been enough. The teams went into half-time with the 2-1 scoreline in favour of Viva.

 

It was again Babatunde who could ease the pressure when he completed his hattrick seven minutes into the second half. Babatunde benefitted a lot from C.S. Sabeeth. The diminutive striker played a vital and stellar role for Viva as he worked very hard and served Babatunde with a lot of opportunities. The teenage sensation was responsible for a perfect ending as he made full use of a defensive lapse in the 56th minute to score Viva's fourth goal.

 

During the remainder, ONGC pressurized Viva's half, but the team was able to weather the storm. With this convincing win, the team finished the 2nd Division campaign on a happy note.

 

Viva: Anoop - Sajesh, Noushad, Rasaq, Sathish Kumar - Siraj (Karma), Rahul, Sakeer, Saleel - Babatunde, Sabeeth (Shibin).

 

A.M. Sreedharan exclusively to vivakerala.net:

We did it! My boys played an outstanding game! ONGC was nowhere in the field. Saleel was marvellous as he was working up and down the field. Our schemer Sakeer, too, was exceptional. Every single player put up a very good performance.   

Today is a  good day for us. All of our fans, relatives, friends and Kerala people are very happy.