Santosh Trophy: Kerala crushes J&K while Delhi shocks Punjab

Kerala is now on top of the five-team group with six points from two wins. Former champion Kerala meets Chhatisgarh next on October 15.

Published : Oct 13, 2023 21:48 IST , KOCHI - 2 MINS READ

 Kerala midfielder Jithin Gopalakrishnan (center), who scored two goals, tries to shake off his markers in the Santosh Trophy Group ‘A’ match against Jammu and Kashmir in Benaulim, Goa on Friday.
 Kerala midfielder Jithin Gopalakrishnan (center), who scored two goals, tries to shake off his markers in the Santosh Trophy Group ‘A’ match against Jammu and Kashmir in Benaulim, Goa on Friday. | Photo Credit: Special arrangement
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 Kerala midfielder Jithin Gopalakrishnan (center), who scored two goals, tries to shake off his markers in the Santosh Trophy Group ‘A’ match against Jammu and Kashmir in Benaulim, Goa on Friday. | Photo Credit: Special arrangement

Midfielder Jithin Gopalakrishnan scored twice as Kerala crushed Jammu and Kashmir 6-1 for its second win in the Group ‘A’ league of the 77 th Santosh Trophy National football championship at the SAG Benaulim Ground, Benaulim, on Friday.

Kerala, which blanked Gujarat 3-0 in its opener on Wednesday, is now on top of the five-team group with six points from two wins. Former champion Kerala meets Chhatisgarh next on October 15.

GUJARAT HOLDS GOA

Meanwhile host Goa, which beat Chhatisgarh 1-0 in its opener earlier, was forced to a 1-1 draw by Gujarat in another Group ‘A’ match on Friday. That result should now make Kerala a favourite to top the top.

READ MORE | Unlucky India loses 2-4 to Malaysia, bows out of Merdeka Cup

There were some surprises in Group ‘B’ where Haryana forced 32-time champion West Bengal to a goalless draw at Phagwara while Delhi shocked Punjab 1-0 at Banga. Delhi is now on top of the six-team Group ‘B’ with seven points from three matches while Bengal (5 points, 1 win, 2 draws) is in the third spot, behind Odisha (6 points).

The group toppers will automatically qualify for the 12-team main phase which will be held in Arunachal Pradesh later this year. Three of the best second-placed teams from the six groups will also enter the final phase and joining them will be defending champion Karnataka, last edition’s runner-up Meghalaya and host Arunachal Pradesh.

The results (league):

Group A (at Benaulim): Kerala 6 (Jithin Gopalakrishnan 8 & 55; E. Sajeesh 14, Muhammed Ashiq Shoukathali 45+1, K. Abdu Raheem 67, Riswanali Edakkavil 74) bt Jammu & Kashmir 1 (Faizal Maqsood Thakur 61). Goa 1 (Jobern Cardozo 90+9) drew with Gujarat 1 (Chunsaba Bariam 58).

Group B (at Banga and Phagwara): Odisha 5 (Chandra Muduli 16 & 40; Fagu Hembram 22, Arpan Lakra 81, Raisen Tudu 87) bt Ladakh 0; Delhi 1 (Mohit Mittal 32) bt Punjab 0; Haryana 0 drew with West Bengal 0.

Group F (Kolhapur): Maharashtra 8 (Nikhil Kadam 19 & 21, Himanshu Patil 27 & 45; Johnson Joseph Mathews 30, Advai

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