19 year old Thrissur lad Jithin MS dazzles on day one of final stage of Santosh Trophy!

by Spandan Paul March 20, 2018

While Kerala had register a thumping 5-1 victory over Chandigarh we from FootballCounter managed to catch up with the coaches of both the teams and the man of the match Jithin MS who was at his sublime best even after suffering food poisoning and scored two goals coupling with two assists. Let’s take look at what these three personalities had on their mind after the opening day of final stage of 72^nd Santosh Trophy.

What Kerala head coach Satheevan Nil Balan felt after the match?

Kerala coach was in his modest best addressing the media about his team’s performance. “We didn’t expect a scoreline of 5/6 goals due to strong physical appearance of the Chandigarh boys but I’m happy the way our boys executed the functioning which we had planned, though there were few mistakes here and there. When quizzed about the fascinating style of play by his team Balan stated  “ The best way to break a strong defense is to switch to wing play which we combined with strong midfield dominance” .

He seemed very confident of the upcoming matches but sounded cautious at the same time. “Next matches will be different as we will be competing against the north-eastern teams who are generally tough to play with due to the physical factor and sound technicalities they bring on; but we are really confident; so let’s hope for the best. We didn’t have too much time to prepare but the 15-20 we managed to get, it was made sure the efforts were fruitful since the next two matches will be very crucial for us”.

What Chandigarh coach Sandeep Singh had to say?

Chandigarh head coach was evidently disappointed with the result as he lamented the absence of regular players due to national circuit commitments. “We started preparing one month prior but 4-5 regular players of our team joined Minerva Punjab FC in I-League which made us a little bit weaker; but we need to improve on our finishing and reduce the small mistakes in the defense which cost us the game today.”

“Nikhil Pasher is the boy we feel can make a difference with strong defending in our half but unfortunately he was out of color today, but we will bounce back and hope our midfielders can perform better in the upcoming matches which we need to win” he said when asked about who he feels will be holding the key for better performances in the upcoming match. “There won’t be any changes in the tactical aspect and let’s hope for the best” as he signed off with a wry smile.

Man of the match Jithin MS’s side of story :

Jithin MS the U-21 winger of the Kerala team cut a modest figure speaking in his native language. He has had a tough time coping up to the change of food in Kolkata and had problems while sprinting up and down as he was substituted early in the second half; but not before he ensured a Kerala win thumping two goals and assisting two other as he missed out on a possible hat-trick. The winger from Thrissur studies in Shree Kerala Verma College is pursuing BA in Hindi in the first year and trains with FC Kerala as he seemed ready for the bigger stage and was confident to help his team add one more glory to an already staggering record in Santosh Trophy.