Karnataka planned an outright win but ended up scoring a 1-1 draw against Tamil Nadu in the South Zone qualifiers of the 73rd Santosh Trophy football championship at the Bharathi Stadium here on Thursday.
It was still enough for the team to make it to the next round as it had beaten Andhra Pradesh in its opening fixture.
For Tamil Nadu, it was a must-win situation and, it planned its moves accordingly. The boys gave their sweat in a bid to qualify but lack of experience cost the team dear.
In the first half, the Karnataka boys played with lots of energy and marched forward with ease. Tamil Nadu pressed on the accelerator as well midway through but failed to create an impact.
Gem of a header
A.S. Ashik pulled off a surprise with a gem of a header in the 39th minute. The defender was swift to cross-head a beauty that came his way. That left Tamil Nadu stumped.
The Tamil Nadu boys looked a transformed lot in the second-half. Skipper Sasi Kumar lifted the team’s spirit with a booming shot that was palmed over the post by Jayanth Kumar, the Karnataka custodian.
The host further piled on the pressure and kept raiding the rival citadel. It worked wonders as T. Vijay was brought down by a defender. The referee was quick to award a penalty and N. Solaimalai hammered it into the net.
Karnataka’s coach D. Manivannan rejoiced. “I would have been thrilled if we had gone home with a win. It does not matter because strategy-wise they played a lot better.”
“We had seven under-21 players in the squad and they have to mature a bit in their style of play. There’s enough time to get them in shape for the next round,” he added.
The Tamil Nadu coach V. Soundarajan said the boys played sincere and brilliant but it was inexperience that reflected in a drawn result. “We did not have key players despite that they showed lots of courage.”
The result:
Karnataka 1 (A.S. Ashik 39) drew with Tamil Nadu 1 (N. Solaimalai 74).
Friday’s matches: Telangana vs. Pondicherry (9 a.m.); Services vs. Kerala (3 p.m.).
