Kerala booked its spot in the final round of the Santosh Trophy with a goalless draw against Tamil Nadu at the Football Stadium here on Monday. Kerala needed only a point from the final South Zone qualifier to finish on top of Group B (on goal difference) and it accomplished the task, even if a little unconvincingly. With the clock ticking down, Tamil Nadu -- needing a win to advance -- looked increasingly bold, but there was no breakthrough.
"I'm not happy; I'm not disappointed either," said the Kerala coach, Satheevan Balan, afterwards. "Our line-up was not defensive. We created chances but we missed them. Definitely there was some tension towards the end. Except our defenders all our players looked shaky today. Our wingers failed; our strikers and central midfielders were not up to the mark either."
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Kerala's failure to score was due in no small part to the efforts of the rival goalkeeper. M. Manikandan pulled off a number of fine saves, palming Vibin Thomas's powerful free-kick over the bar, and blocking close-range shots from strikers Sajith Poulose and V.K. Afdal.
Tamil Nadu had a couple of fine chances of its own, but K. Manimaran missed from point-blank range on the stroke of half-time. There were few other clear-cut chances, although the side grew in confidence as the game wore on. Kerala came through unscathed despite its wastefulness in front of goal.
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