Faced with strong opponents Titanium XI, Viva Kerala rose to the occasion and beat the Thiruvanathapuram outfit by an impressive 3-0. This pits the young team against SBT in the final of the Kerala State Club Championship on Friday.

 

Coach A.M. Sreedharan was very proud with his boys who played a very good and fast game and this always made it difficult for Titanium. The seasoned coach was faced with a problem prior to the match because A. Devadasan could not be fielded as a striker as planned. The former SBT player did not figure in the final registration list which Viva submitted ahead of the tournament and thus had to be left out. His place upfront was taken by utility player Saleel who partnered Shibin Lal.

 

As early as in the 10th minute, right wing back Mohammed Shihab scored the lead for Viva which was doubled ten minutes later by Mohammad Conte off a header. The final goal was scored by captain K.V. Lalu in the 75th minute of the match.

 

A.M. Sreedharan:

"I am happy that we won by a rather big margin. Titanium is a strong team which comprises of many Kerala state players. Scoring three goals against such a team is very important. My young players performed well although the stadium was packed. This means they are starting to get used to the excitement. I told my boys to go to bed early as our preparation for our revenge will start right now. If we play in the same spirit as today, then we can definitely win."

 

Viva: Shahinlal - Shihab, Mansa, Noushad, Sathish - Sakeer, Lalu, Conte, Siraj - Shibin, Saleel.

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