Itanagar (Arunachal Pradesh): Kerala began their campaign in the Santosh Trophy National Football Championship final round with a hard-fought 3-1 win over Assam here on Wednesday.
Midfielder Abdu Raheem drew first blood for Kerala in the 19th minute as he curled a left-footer past the goalkeeper.
The seven-time champions doubled the lead in the second half with Sajeesh E finding the back of the net in the 67th minute before Assam pulled one back through Dipu Mirdha. Kerala survived a few anxious moments before captain Nijo Gilbert wrapped up the tie with a goal in the fifth minute of added time.
Services defeated Meghalaya 1-0 in the inaugural match.
Apart from Kerala, Assam, Services and Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Goa are the other teams in Group A. Group B consists of defending champions Karnataka, Maharashtra, Delhi, Mizoram, Manipur and Railways. The top four from each group will progress to the quarterfinals.
Kerala next meet Goa on Friday (7 pm).
