JCT and Viva Kerala expectedly played out a goalless draw in Silchar on Thursday, a result which sees the Punjabis stuck at the bottom of their group with only one point from two games. For Viva this was their second goalless draw in a row, which still keeps their chances alive.
Both sides came into the match looking for a win, although goals have been a problem for either. The match started with a few half chances coming either way, with Daljit Singh sending his effort wide, while Shibin lal poked his shot wide in the 13th minute from Karma's corner.
Both teams were solid at the back, but as has been the case recently, lacked any real cohesion or creativity in midfield, which made for a slightly dull game.
However, JCT came close soon after in the 20th minute, as they got forward through Balwant Singh, who squared the ball to Henry. He then laid it ino the path of Balwant as he ran forward, whose shot was saved by Sharath. However, Baldeep Singh was quickest to the rebound, his his strike ricocheted off the crossbar.
There were few chances for either side thereafter, with Balwant Singh's wide header from a Harish Sharma free kick being the closest either team came to scoring after that in the first half.
As the second half began, JCT still looked marginally the better side, although Viva Kerala were making their presence felt every once in a while with a decent half-chance. In the 57th minute, they surged forward again, as Reuben picked up the ball from Sirajuddin, went past Daljit and sent in a low cross in the box, but none of his teammates made a run to make the most of it.
Just past the hour mark, JCT had another chance, as new player Rakinderjit Singh unleased a 25-yard piledriver towards goal. However, Viva goalie Sharath was up to the mark again, as he parried the shot away superbly to only concede a corner.
Karma, who was impressive once again in the Viva shirt, conjured up a chance in the 69th minute, as he played a one-two with Reuben Senyo before having a go from 18 yards, but JCT keeper Karanjit Singh was up to the task, and saved well.
However, Karanjit Singh made an even better save eight minutes later, as he acrobatically palmed away Sakeer's free kick from the edge of the area, in what was one of the best saves of the tournament.
There wasn't much action thereafter, as both teams took a couple of pot-shots, but none were on target. Patrick was wide of the mark in the 88th minute when he latched onto a loose ball just outside the box, whereas Pawan Kumar connected well with his shot inside the box deep into injury time, but dragged his effort well wide too.
JCT are now out of contention for a semi final place, as they've scored just one point in two games, whereas Viva's hopes stay alive after two draws out of two matches. A win for Salgaocar against East Bengal later on Thursday would seal their spot in the last four.
Source: Goal.com India
From the archive. First published on footballkerala.com on Thursday 24 December 2009, restored from the site's 2012 database. Text as originally published.