Sink Karnataka 7-3 In 1st semifinal
Young attacker Jesin TK came off the bench and netted five times, including a 10-minute hat-trick, to steer hosts Kerala into the final of the 75th Santosh Trophy national football championship with a 7-3 win over Karnataka at a deafening Payyanad Stadium in Manjeri on Thursday.
The home team had found themselves 1-0 down in the first half despite dominating the proceedings, but an inspired substitution by Bino George turned the game on its head as the Kerala head coach introduced Kerala United forward Jesin in place of KSEB attacker Viknesh M at the half hour-mark.
Kerala had their back to the wall as Karnataka's prolific striker and captain Sudheer Kotikela arrived at the far post to turn in a cross from Solaimalai N in the 25th minute giving Biby Thomas Muttath's side a 1-0 lead and forcing Bino to put his plan 'B' into action.
And it took 22-year-old Jesin, hailing from Nilambur, just four minutes to make an impact on the last-four clash as he lifted the ball over Kevin Koshy and into the goal with the Karnataka shot-stopper stranded. Karnataka were left to rue the gilt-edged chance that fell to Kamalesh P to double their lead a minute before and instead found themselves level.
Jesin's second came in the 42nd minute as he battled defender Siju S and toe-poked the ball past Kevin to give Kerala the 2-1 lead. Jesin completed his hat-trick two minutes later -- this time scoring on the rebound after Nijo Gilbert's initial effort was saved by the Karnataka custodian.
The hosts added a fourth before the half-time interval as Shighil NS scored from inside the box as Karnataka's dream start turned into a nightmare in the blink of an eye.
Kamalesh made up for missing the sitter in the first half with a brilliant goal as his swerving shot from distance deceived Kerala goalkeeper Midhun V and reduced the deficit to two goals in the 53rd minute. But Jesin was not done yet as he restored Kerala's three-goal lead applying a calm finish past Kevin after a quick break three minutes later.
An own goal by Karnataka's Siju made it 6-2 in the 61st minute before Solaimalai scored Karnataka's third with a belter from the edge of the box -- Midhun had no chance to stop the venomous striker. Jesin netted his fifth to make it 7-3 in the 74th minute latching onto a through ball from Noufal PN and making no mistake with his finish.
This is Kerala's 15th appearance in the Santosh Trophy final and their first since the 2017-18 edition when they defeated hosts West Bengal in Kolkata for their sixth title. In 2011-12, the last time they hosted the tournament, Kerala had lost to Services on penalties in the final at Kochi.
