Captain Naro Hari Shrestha's stunning hat-trick helped West Bengal to beat Kerala 5-0 in the men's football final of the National Games 2022 at the EKA Arena stadium here on Tuesday.
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Rabi Hansda and Amit Chakrabarty also found the mark for West Bengal, which claimed the top honors after 11 years in the National Games 2022. West Bengal had strengthened their hold in the match even before the first half ended. Although, Kerala had made it to the finals after winning all the matches in the group stage. In the semi-finals also they had secured an easy victory against Karnataka.
Match Report:
Kerala had started the match well and appeared to be in constant control, but West Bengal took the lead in the 16th minute. Kerala defender Sanju Ji made a mistake in handling the back pass and Surjeet took advantage of it and shot from the right side. Goalkeeper Midhun V had blocked this shot but could not stop the shot on the rebound. Kerala then started applying more pressure and three minutes later they had a great chance to score.
West Bengal goalkeeper Raja Burman gave a clearance which did not go too far from the box and fell in front of Ajeesh P. Trying to score in the first attempt itself, Ajeesh could not take a clean shot. Two minutes later, Kerala got another opportunity when they were very close to the goal. Bujer Valiyattu misses the net despite being in the six yard box. West Bengal captain Naro Hari Shrestha took control of the ball after hitting a Kerala wall and scored a brilliant goal from a distance of 25 yards. Just before half time, Sanju once again made a mistake and gave Bengal a chance to score. Surjeet gave the cross even though there was no Bengal player, and after Sanju's mistake, Shrestha almost decided the result of the match.
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After West Bengal's counter attack in the 52nd minute, Shrestha completed his hat-trick with a simple header. Left-back Toton Das had entered Kerala's box while overlapping and chipped the ball over the goalkeeper and passed it to his captain. Kerala had the ball for a long time, but West Bengal's defense showed strength.