After the 0-5 thrashing at the hands of Churchill Brothers, the players were determined to prove their critics wrong. And truly, they did, even though they could not win the match against mighty JCT FC.

Had it not been for Sunil Chhetri, who recently was awarded "Indian Player of the Year", we might have witnessed a different outcome in today's match.

25 minutes into the match, JCT shot into lead courtesy Sunil Chhetri. After that, Viva Kerala resumed play on an attacking note, but strikers Wisdom Abbey (his return was a major boost to the side) and Baba Tunde found it difficult to sneak through the sturdy JCT defence. Their Brazilian forward Eduardo Escobar was marked very nicely by the defence despite the absence of Ghanaian stopper back George Tutu. His replacement Akshay Das had a nice game.

Wisdom Abbey had another chance just before the break but his attempt was thwarted. The second half saw a rejuvenated Viva Kerala and when everybody thought that the 1-1 equaliser was about to happen, it was JCT which increased its lead (69'). It has to be said however, that Sunil Chhetri's pass to Baljit Singh Saini was worth a more detailed look as their were suspicions of an offside position.

Later in the game, Baba was fouled in the penalty box, but the referee kept mum on this occasion to the disappointment of the numerous Viva fans. Towards the end of the game, Baba Tunde missed two sitters and thus Viva Kerala went down despite their spirited and fighting display.

Viva will now meet table toppers Dempo SC on Friday in Goa.

Viva: Nelson - Rose, Khelemba, Das, Tabia, Lalu - Birua, Adama (73' Jotin Singh), Shaleel - Baba Tunde, Abbey. 

Comment by coach A.M. Sreedharan: 
"Actually, we outplayed them. It was the individual brilliance of Sunil Chhetri which made the difference, otherwise we could have snatched a draw: The ball possesion was 60:40 for us. Nevertheless, the boys are confident now. If we play like this in the coming home matches then we can win! Apart from this, everyone appreciated our performance and the crowd even gathered in front of our hotel to encourage us."

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