A late headed goal from second-half substitute Fredy helped Integral Coach Factory hold Viva Kerala to a draw in the V.P. Sathyan memorial all-India football tournament here on Sunday.
The draw helped maintain the home state's unbeaten record in the competition after Chennai Customs and Tamil Nadu XI's opening day wins on Saturday.
ICF coach P. Thulasi started with a team shorn of a number of regulars, including Fredy and right-winger Suresh Kumar, usually the main outlet for his side's attacking play.
Both came on in the second half and combined to produce the equaliser in the 87th minute, Suresh pinging in a free kick from near the right touchline, Fredy popping up at the near post to nod home composedly.
Without these two, the home team's play had looked disjointed for much of the first half. To add to this, the Viva players punished any uncertain first touches with their aggressive pressing.
The I-League side took the lead in the 18th minute through striker C.S. Sabeeth, who broke clear in the box and reached out with his right boot to pluck a cross from the right wing out of the reach of the onrushing 'keeper V.P. Sathish and lob it into the net.
Sabeeth could have doubled the lead about five minutes from half-time, but volleyed over the crossbar on the turn after Sathish parried a shot from winger T. Karma straight at the striker.
Losing steam
The Kerala outfit seemed to lose steam through the course of the second half, but upped the tempo around the 75-minute mark. Midfielder C.K. Vineeth was at the heart of all its surges.
First, he broke into the box unmarked and volleyed a loose ball inches over the crossbar. A minute later, he sent another effort screaming just over, from 25 yards out.
Sathish then kept ICF in the game with a splendid save, coming off his line to palm away a low drive from Sabeeth, who had broken free by means of a one-two with Vineeth on the edge of the penalty area.
Andhra XI posts win
The second game saw Andhra XI beat Mohun Bagan Academy 3-1, after an entertaining 90 minutes full of attractive, technical football along the carpet, with both sets of players showed neat touch and imagination in attack.
But the Andhra side was far more secure at the back.
This became evident in the 24th minute, when Tattam Naidu opened the scoring with a goal that contained dollops of fortune, bundling the ball in via a deflection off a Mohun Bagan defender after latching on to a free kick swung in from the right.
Mohammad Mouzam doubled Andhra's lead with the last kick of the first half, a stupendous free kick curled into the far post from the left edge of the penalty area.
Bagan's plight grew worse in the 56th minute, through its own ineptness in defence. Centre back Sheikh Mustafa Ali, facing his own goal, under hit a back-header meant for his keeper.
Mouzam pounced on the ball, and lobbed it expertly over the keeper to make it 3-0.Bagan's bright attacking play seemed to deserve at least a consolation goal, and it arrived in the 90th minute via a penalty.
Andhra ‘keeperMohammad Ali Khan was lucky to receive only a yellow after he bundled Deependu Sardar over in the box, since he had denied a clear goalscoring opportunity.
Sardar himself took the ensuing penalty, and converted unfussily, slotting it into the bottom corner.
