KOCHI: Kerala Blasters FC Reserves ended their Kerala Premier League campaign with a 6-0 thumping of Cochin Port Trust at the Panampilly Nagar Sports Complex Stadium in Kochi on Wednesday. Blasters were already out of the running for a semifinal spot as FC Thrissur and SAT Tirur had already progressed with 19 and 16 points respectively from Group A. But the ISL club’s young second string side exited the competition with a bang finishing just a point behind SAT.
Suraj Rawat opened the goal scoring for Blasters in the 13th minute before a quickfire double from Shaiborlang Kharpan, in the 17th and 19th minutes, ended the match as a contest even before it began. Ananthu Murali made it 4-0 in the 35th minute before Kerala Santosh Trophy striker Afdal VK found a second half brace, in the 66th and 68th minutes, to make it half a dozen goals for the ISL side. Blasters end this season’s KPL with five wins and three defeats from eight matches.
Meanwhile, FC Kerala also ended their KPL campaign with a goalless draw against Central Excise at the Ambedkar Stadium here. The Thrissur- based I-League Second Division club finished the season with 12 points from eight matches behind Gokulam Kerala FC, who have 21 points, and Quartz FC, who collected 16. In a match held on Tuesday, Gokulam had defeated KSEB 2-1 at the Ambedkar Stadium with goals from Mohammed Shibli and Hristijan Denkovski. After going behind, Seesan S had equalised for KSEB. FC Thrissur will face Quartz FC in the first semifinal of the KPL while Gokulam will play SAT Tirur in the second semifinal. Both matches will be played on June 1.