Benaulim: Kerala kickstarted its Santosh Trophy campaign with a win against Gujarat. The Kerala football team overhauled their opponents with a 3-0 win. The players from Kerala put up a splendid performance in the Group A match.

While Akbar Siddique scored a brace for Kerala, captain Nijo Gilbert chipped in with a crucial goal as well. Akbar found the net twice in the 12th and 33rd minutes of the high octane clash. Gilbert’s goal was the icing on the cake, pushing Gujarat out of the contest.

Kerala maintained the lead by focussing more on their defence in the later half of the match. Gujarat made a couple of notable counter attacks, but their efforts proved futile. Kerala has matches lined up against Goa and  Chattisgarh in the coming days.