Traditional powerhouses rule in the Santosh Trophy second phase

Gurgaon, Oct 21 (UNI) The fight for supremacy among traditional powerhouses in the semi-final encounters of the 61st Santosh Trophy here tomorrow promises high quality football.

After dull and drab preliminary round matches attended by sparse crowd, the quarter-final stage lived up to the expectations with the four semi-finalsts -- Kerala, Maharashtra, Punjab and West Bengal -- given a run for their money by the other four -- Haryana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Goa.

But, the shocker of the second stage was the elimination of holders Goa after playing out a 2-2 draw with unlucky Haryana who could have easily won the match but for the woodwork. The holders were pipped to the post by Punjab on better goal difference.

The hosts did not disappoint their supporters with a gutsy show.

Even without any top rung player who play in big clubs in their ranks, they were beaten only by Bengal by a solitary goal.

On present form, a youthful Kerala seem to be the best side.

Making their seventh semi-final appearance in a row after 1999 when they hosted the Trophy, the footballers from the God's own land are seeking their sixth title overall and third title in five-year time having won in 2001 in Mumbai and then in 2004 in New Delhi.

They have the most lethal attack among the four with India defender N P Pradeep, who was playing attacking midfielder for Kerala in this tournament, being the best player so far. He was well complemented by captain Mohammad Hakeem and Asif Saheer who were part of 2001 Trophy-winning side.

But, a fast improving Bengal will be a handful for Kerala when they face each other tomorrow and the 29-time champions have some fine players in captain Dipendu Biswas and current India players Syed Rahim Nabi and Habi-ur-Rehman Mondal, who have big match experience, and a fine coach in former national captain Prasanta Banerjee. Their defence manned by another India player Sanjib Maria seemed impregnable except against Goa.

Bengal though were unlucky to have lost India goalkeeper Sandip Nandy due to injury.

Banerjee told UNI that he would love to end the long title drought having won last time in 1999. He would be happy that the lack of coordination, which he attributed to the absence of training together before the tournament, was not so visible in the last match against Punjab.

It is also difficult to choose between Maharashtra and Punjab who play each other in the other semi-final. Both were far from impressive in their last quarter-final matches. Punjab began with a bang beating Goa 2-0 with India striker Manjit Singh and JCT's Parveen Kumar giving outstanding performances. But, without Manjit, Punjab upfront was spineless against Bengal, losing 0-1.

As for Maharashtra, they have to pull up their socks from their last match if they want to beat Punjab and become serious contenders for their fourth title. Tamil Nadu dominated them till the 66th minute goal by Adil Ansari against the run of play. Their over-dependence on Abhishek Yadav to fetch goals could boomerang on any day as had happened in the match against Kerala whose defenders marked him closely and did not give him space.

UNI PDS PM GC1755