TN knock K'taka out 2-0; Keep semifinal hopes alive

Gurgaon, Oct 17 (UNI) Tamil Nadu struck twice in the second half to beat Karnataka 2-0 in a must-win Group B quarterfinal tie and keep their hopes alive in the 61st Santosh Trophy here today.

S Sathish Kumar (67th min) and Jotin Singh (70th min) were the found the net for the winners.

Needing a win to stay in hunt for a semifinal berth, Tamil Nadu played a cautious game in the first half but went all out after the brether to collect full three points.

Surprisingly, Karnataka did not start with their key players Xavier Vijay Kumar and Kutti Mani and only introduced them late in the second half.

With today's loss, Karnataka are out of the tournamnmet having lost to Maharashtra earlier on Sunday.

Tamil Nadu, whose best performance was a runner-up finish in 1972, next play Maharashtra on Thursday.

The first half saw both the teams trying to dominate each other with Karnataka having a slight advantage in the first 25 minutes.

But Tamil Nadu gradually started taking the control of the match and in the 27th minute, an L Johnny's goal was disallowed for offside.

Tamil Nadu could have taken the lead in the 43rd minute when Kulothungan found himself infront of the goal from a J Anandavasan pass but only managed to shot it wide.

Tamil Nadu dominated the eventful second half and surged ahead in the 67th minute when S Sathish Kumar outpaced the Karnataka goalie to collect a long ariel ball from L Johnny before lobbing it gently into the net.

Three minutes later, Tamil Nadu doubled the lead whan an unmarked Jotin connected a Kulothungan pass from the right into the goal.

A desperate Karnataka pressed hard in search of a goal and almost got in the 72nd minute but M Sathish Kumar failed to convert a spot kick.

To add to their woes, Karnataka player and India international Kutti Mani was sent off for dangerous play in the 75th minute.

Nonetheless they continued in the attacking mode but Tamil Nadu defence stood rock solid and ensured there were no real scares before the hooter.

Tamil Nadu coach V Soundarajan later said his boys played better than the last match and deservingly won today.

''We changed out strategy today by playing defensive in the first half half and conceded no goal. In the second half, we went all out and were able to struck twice,'' he said.

UNI PDS DH KP1940