Kerala down Mizoram to reach final of Santosh Trophy

Afdal VK scored the winner for the southerners.

Kerala progressed to the final of the Santosh Trophy as they edged out Mizoram 1-0 in a gritty encounter played at the Howrah Stadium in West Bengal earlier today. After being toothless in the first half, an inspired substitution saw super-sub Afdal VK score the winner for his side who have an opportunity to lift the Santosh Trophy title for the first time in five years.  

Both teams had strong outings in the group stages and with both having not qualified for the final in almost four years, it was all to play for. Mizoram began the game with a much more cautious system by playing with a stacked midfield and Kerala’s slow approach to the game allowed them to be on the attack.

Mizoram had pushed Kerala’s backs to the wall and were threatening through the right wing as they sent in many dangerous crosses from that side, while Lalromawia’s darting shot in the 14th minute forced a strong save from Midhun. It was Mizoram’s organized system and packed midfield which made it almost impossible for Kerala to penetrate them and extra cover on the wings made it difficult for stars Rahul KP and Jithin MS to do anything good either.

In what was a cagey first half, Mizoram were much more dominant and almost scored in the latter stages, when Laldinpuia’s header and Lalbiakhlua’s powerful attempt gave Midhun a nightmare. The Kerala side, who had till now scored the most goals in the tournament, looked toothless in attack in the first period and went into the break in dire need of a different gameplan.

Kerala looked revitalized in the second half and a decisive substitution from the coach to bring in Afdal VK inspired them to take more risks and ask questions of Mizoram’s defence. It seemed inevitable that the super-sub would do something and so he did when he put his side into the lead in the 54th minute as Mizoram were caught napping and a inch-perfect pass allowed Jithin MS to make a darting run into the middle and Afdal latched onto his ball to give his side a surprise lead.

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While Mizoram did look dangerous after the goal and were forced to take it up a notch to get the equalizer, the game was perfectly set up for Kerala to play their natural defensive, counter-attacking game. The Mizo side did get a few chances, with their biggest one coming when striker Lalremruata’s powerful header was superbly collected by Midhun to preserve his side’s lead.

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Kerala looked pretty solid at the back but were definitely helped by Mizoram’s wastefulness in attack, with the Northeast side successfully penetrating into the box, but failing to get the ball past Midhun who was having a superb game and put his body on the line to preserve the lead for his side. Things were getting a bit heated with rough challenges flying in and a violent scuffle also ensued after the Mizo players attacked Midhun.

Mizoram brought on all their attacking players off the bench and huffed and puffed to get the equalizer, but poor decision-making was their bane and allowed Kerala to waste through the minutes and deservedly win the match, which will see them face Bengal in what will be a rematch for the Santosh Trophy title on Sunday.