Kerala Police edged past KSEB 3-1 in the semi final of the 9th SBT GV Raja All-India Football Tournament 2012 at the University Stadium, Trivandrum. Nazarudeen C (7′), Gipson Justus (89′) and Prashanth Simon(90+3′) scored for Kerala Police while Alex M (14′) was on target for the Electricity Board.
Kerala Police imposed their supremacy over Electricity Board in the opening minutes as a close range effort from Firos Kalathingal was blocked on goal by the keeper as early as the 6th minute. And the Police took the lead in the next minute when a free kick from the right side was headed in by the current tournament top scorer Nazardeen C for his sixth goal of the tournament.
The reply from instantaneous from KSEB as a cross-cum-shot by Alex M from the left wing found the back of the net as the goalkeeper misjudged the flight of the high ball in the 14th minute. The first half did not produce many goal scoring opportunities as both the teams out out a cautious display in the rest of the period.
Police had another chance to open the scoring when Anish KP’s shot was blocked by the keeper and from the resultant hassle, Nazarudeen was played through on goal, but the keeper advanced and swept the ball off his feet. In the 73rd minute, IM Vijayan came on for Jimshad U.
As the game looked poised for the tie breaker, Kerala Police broke the deadlock though Gipson Justus in the 89th minute. The creator of the goal was Firos Kalathingal who dribbled past three defenders to get into the box and laid the ball to Gipson who slashed the ball in.
The game got all messy in the 90th minute when KSEB’s Surjith VV was sent off in the additional minutes for a mistimed tackle. Police stamped their domination over the Board when an IM Vijayan free kick was headed in to the goal by substitute Prashant Simon.
Kerala Police will take on the State Bank of Travancore in the final of the 9th SBT GV Raja Football Tournament 2012 on Tuesday from 06:00 PM.
Kerala Police 3 – 1 Kerala State Electricity Board
Goals: Nazarudeen C (7′), Gipson Justus (89′), Prashanth Simon (90+3′) – Alex M (14′)
From the archive. First published on footballkerala.com on Tuesday 2 October 2012. The database copy of this article was lost; it was recovered in 2026 from the Internet Archive's saved copy of the live page.