State Bank of Travancore trounced Kerala State Electricity Board 4-1 in the Thiruvananthapuram District super division football league at the Chandrasekharan Nair stadium on Wednesday.
The match was replay of the earlier fixture which was called off due to bad light. The match was ill-tempered and saw SBT’s Rinil and KSEB’s Girish engage in fisticuffs in the second half. Both the players were sent out by referee Bimal Lazar.
SBT bounced back in style after conceding an early goal to chalk up an impressive win. Things started horrendously wrong for SBT when Shafi handled the ball in the third minute. Vinod had no trouble in putting KSEB ahead.
However, SBT gave a clinical and polished performance in the midfield to overwhelm its rival. Twin strikes by Kabeer (24th and 26th minutes) took the wind out of KSEB’s sails. It was all over bar the shouting when Asif Saheer was brought down inside the box in the 33rd minute. Martin coolly wrong footed Nelson to swell the lead.
SBT slowed down the pace of the game a bit in the second half. Bankmen relied more on fast breaks to put pressure on KSEB who struggled to control the midfield. SBT stamped its authority with the fourth goal in the 83rd minute. Nelson did done well to parry a free kick by Shafi and rebound came to Saheer who shot straight at the keeper’s body. However, Kannan cashed on to the rebound to complete the tally.
Earlier, the Coastal Club-St. Mary’s match was abandoned when Coastal Club refused to play. Costal Club players disputed the goal awarded against them in the second half and walked out. The fate of the match will be decided by the TDCA executive committee.
From the archive. First published on footballkerala.com on Saturday 15 August 2009, restored from the site's 2012 database. Text as originally published.