Kannur defeated Malappuram 4-1 in the final of the 38th Kerala State Junior Football Championship to be crowned the junior champions after 20 years, at Cherthala, Alappuzha. Navaneeth Chandran was the star of the evening scoring a hat-trick which helped Kannur to the coronation.
Navaneeth found the back of the net in the 42nd, 48th and 69th minutes of the match, and he along with midfield playmaker Adarsh AM routed the Malappuram team. Adarsh completed the victory for Kannur with a goal in the 89th minute. Malappuram's lone goal came from Ijaz Ali in the 68th minute.
Kannur's goalkeeper VK Vishnu also produced an impressive performance in the match. "We were confident of winning the title, but I never thought I would end up with a hat-trick," Navaneeth was quoted as saying after the match.
In the match for the third place, Thrissur defeated the defending champions Kozhikode 4-0 and finished runners up in the 38th edition of the junior football championship.
Results:
Final: Kannur 4-1 Malappuram
Goals: Navaneeth Chandran (42', 48', 69'), Adarsh AM (89') - Ijaz Ali (68')
Losers' Final: Thrissur 4-0 Kozhikode
Goals: Sarath Chandra Prasad (8'), Adarsh (10', 43', 76')
From the archive. First published on footballkerala.com on Thursday 3 November 2011, restored from the site's 2012 database. Text as originally published.