Santosh Trophy Final: Robi Hansda Hands West Bengal 1-0 Win Over Kerala, 33rd Title

West Bengal clinched a record-extending 33rd title at the national football championship for Santosh Trophy with a 1-0 win over Kerala in the final in Hyderabad on Tuesday (December 31). Robi Hansda scored the only goal of the match in the added time of the second half at the GMC Balayogi Athletic Stadium. (More Football News) 

Robi found the back of the net with an easy finish from point-blank range after Aditya Thapa headed the ball into the box. Hansda, a prolific striker, who scored his 12th goal in the 78th edition of the tournament and brought a dramatic change in the final, went wild with joy after scoring the winner and took off his shirt to celebrate that immediately called for a yellow card.

But it didn’t stop Hansda from running away with two top individual awards of the tournament – the Tulsidas Balaram Player of the Match award and the Peter Thangaraj Player of the Tournament Award.

As the match was slowly moving towards a contest to be decided in the extra time or through the penalty shootout, Kerala's defence found itself completely off-guard when striker Manotos Maji headed forward a ball in the box in the 90+4th minute after receiving a lob from the left.

Kerala defender Adil Amal was wrong footed when Hansda, who was camping himself well inside the area, a few yards away from the goalkeeper Hajmal S, put the ball in to trigger off massive celebrations in the West Bengal bench.

Right from the outset of the summit clash, both teams were cautious in their approaches and never could really test the rival custodians. Bengal were heavily handicapped by the absence of their key striker Naro Hari Shrestha because of injury and it blunted their attacks to a great extent. They mainly had to depend on crosses from the wings that didn’t cut much ice in the Kerala defence.

Kerala, on the other hand, were cautious but time and again accelerated in counter attacks. But then, they took fancy shots at the rival goal, tried a few quick dribbles and even sent low crosses which didn’t carry the necessary sting.

West Bengal coach Sanjoy Sen said he felt honoured to take the trophy back to Kolkata after seven years. “In Bengal, it is all about winning the Santosh Trophy. To finish runners-up would be considered a failure.

“So, I was aware of the pressure, but took up the challenge. We had a completely young team, but they performed in the most incredible way throughout the tournament. Kudos to my boys for doing such a great job.”

Hansda, who emerged the top scorer with a dozen goals in his pocket, said he was happy to win the trophy for the state. “That I could score the match-winner is a huge bonus for me. I dedicate this victory to my father.”