TNIE wins praise as GOAL kicks off

KOCHI: TNIE GOAL, Kerala’s premier inter-college tournament, is an earnest and admirable effort by The New Indian Express to unearth future football stars in the state, Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala said here on Sunday.

Inaugurating TNIE GOAL-2019, the event’s eighth edition at the Maharaja’s College Stadium, Chennithala lauded the efforts by The New Indian Express.“The tournament over the years has emerged as a major talent hunt for future national footballers,” he said. It has helped in finding the best talents and promoting them, Chennithala said.

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He also appreciated the efforts of TNIE Editorial Director Prabhu Chawla for taking the lead in organising the tournament, which offers the highest reward among college-level football competitions in the state.

The winners and runners-up will be presented with a scholarship of Rs 2 lakh and Rs 1 lakh.Chennithala, along with Prabhu Chawla, hoisted the tournament flag later.

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Deputy Mayor T J Vinodh, former Travancore Devaswom Board member Ajay Tharayil and Kerala Football Association president K M I Mather were also present on the occasion. TNIE Resident Editor (Kerala) Vinod Mathew welcomed the gathering while TNIE General Manager (Kerala) P Vishnu Kumar proposed a vote of thanks.

Five-star show by MES College

The second match of the opening day of the TNIE GOAL tournament was a one-sided affair as MES Keveeyam College, Valanchery, thrashed UC College, Aluva, with a 5-0 win.MES College underlined its title credentials with a comprehensive win. Jinshad was the hero of the night as he struck a hat-trick which set up a five-star victory for the Valanchery side. It didn’t take MES to take a stranglehold of the match.

They created a flurry of set-pieces, found acres of space in the middle and had a menacing forward in the form of Jinshad. The opening goal came from an opportunistic strike from Jinshad with less than 10 minutes played. The forward showed his aerial prowess when he towered above the defenders to plant the ball past UC College goalkeeper Elvin Jacob.

UC College could barely get out of its own half. MES managed to double its lead in the 34th minute. This time it was Rukunudheen who pounced on a defensive error to score. MES College went into half-time with a 2-0 lead.

After the changeover, MES College continued from where they left off. He scored two goals in four minutes to complete his hat-trick.In the 54th minute, he bullied his way past the UC College defenders before beating the goalkeeper with an angled finish.

Jinshad completed his hat-trick in the 57th minute, once again from open play and he made it look easy. The UC College defenders simply couldn’t keep him quiet.The UC College custodian Elvin had to fish the ball out of his net for the fifth time when Jasim wrapped up the match with a 60th-minute strike. UC College could not be faulted for a lack of effort. They were simply undone by a team who were superior in all departments.MES College has advanced to the pre-quarters where it will meet Farook College, Kozhikode on January 10.

Result

MES Keveeyam College, Valanchery - 5 (Jinshad 8’, 54’, 57’, Rukunudheen 34’, Jasim 60’) bt UC College, Aluva - 0