The 2-1 win on 29 Sep, meant that Kamikaze had overcome their early season jitters to embark on a 3-game consecutive winning spree. But will it last or will it come to an end? To get the answer, they hosted the Stallionz at the Northview Sec pitch on a cool Sunday morning on 7 Oct.
For the second week in a row, the opponents were kitted up and ready to go, even before half the Kamikaze team had set foot onto the pitch. (Guys, take the hint) But the moment, Kamikaze got ready, there was an air of confidence that the team had felt. They were facing an all-Indian team after pretty long, and KKZ was focused on getting a good result against their equally illustrious opponents, who had also been recently been featured in The New Paper. The absence of Captain Achu through illness, and Player-Manager Haresh Diego through injury had been softened by the return of the combative hatchman, JayrajBullah. Kamikaze were all set and ready to go.
The early part of the game saw Kamikaze swarming the opponents' half, but lack of killer passes and killer touches, meant that they had no goals to show for their dominance. But that was to change in a swift moment of counter-attacking football. Nayee, found the ball somewhere near Kamikaze's half and ran straight at the Stallionz defence, beating a player before squaring to teenage sensation Haravin. Haravin made no mistake in finding the energetic Vicky, who showed a moment of brilliance by beating two defenders at the edge of the penalty box, and a moment of unselfishness when he squared the ball to an unmarked Nayee. Nayee made no mistake from the 6-yard box as he crashed a shot into the goal off the crossbar. Kamikaze were up 1-0.
The half ended pretty evenly, and the theme of the half-time talk was yet again the same. Go out there and kill the game.
For a moment, it was a bad case of deja vu, as the opponents began the second half purposefully. The addition of one of their star players, Nantha added a zest into their play. They attacked and crossed with will and it looked as if Kamikaze's defence would be breached. But like i always say, the soccer gods had other ideas.
The Kamikaze defence, and Keeper Manjo stood firm against wave after wave of attacks, and against the run of play, Barathi played the ball directly to the legs of Faizal, who was running on the left flank. Faizal, showed his class by cutting past two defenders before he was felled unfairly, inside the penalty box. The referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Nayee stepped up confidently to tuck the penalty firmly into the bottom right hand corner, to earn his brace and set Kamikaze firmly for a win.
The lead gave Kamikaze the sort of aura, that typifies their spirit. They played with such vigour and energy that had their injured player-manager enjoying himself by the touchlines. Kamikaze launched onto their attacking mode, and produced yet another moment of magic.
Barathi who so far, had a forgettable game, showed incredible skill to beat 3 defenders on the right flank, before graciously squaring the ball to youngster Satheesh, who made no mistake to earn his first goal for KKZ. The Stallionz earned a late consolation goal, to spoil Manoj's clean sheet, but KKZ were the happier lot. A good game, that was heartwarming for the KKZ faithful. Nash was chosen as Man-Of-the-Match for producing yet another sterling display in the defence. The team had responded well to the challenge thrown down to them, and now the next question is. Can they maintain it? Watch this space.
Match Stats:
Final Score: 3-1 (1-0)
MOM: Nash
Goals: Nayee (2), Sateesh (1)
Assists: Barathi (1), Vicky (1)
Overall Standings:
Goals:
(4): Haresh
(3): Nayee
(2): Barathi
(1): Gerard, Ghaz, Vinnie, Vicky, Sateesh
Assists:
(3): Anand Spaceship, Barathi
(2): Gerard
(1): Haresh, Habib, Vicky
MOM:
(2) Nash
(1): Manjo, Gerard, Anand Spaceship, Francis POW
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