The tussle for third place took place between the third years and the fourth years at a comparatively deserted Sangam ground. In marked contrast to the previous games, this one had a noticeably relaxed quality to it, being devoid of the urgency the preceding games were tinged with. The enthusiasm had not abated a mite, although the audience had.
Both teams ceased kicking the ball around when the referee, Suraj Menon, ran onto the field. A quick coin-toss later, the teams took their positions— Sree Hari A.P captaining the third years at the wet end of the pitch and Aditya Haneef heading the fourth years at the other end.
Despite having fallen ten minutes behind schedule, the meagre crowd was augmented only by a few freshies and second years, who were awaiting their forthcoming match with eager anticipation. A few third and fourth years lined the borders, chattering and laughing, each hoping their team would win. An early attempt by Adithya to score a goal was met with cheers, as was the inevitable save by Melwin James, the goalkeeper for the third years. Nityanshu Sengar’s attempt met the same fate. Possibly believing in the phrase “third time’s a charm”, another attempt was made by Biyas Muhammed, who neatly managed to take control of the ball. Sensing rather than sighting the third years Deva Nandan H. and Ananthajith K.R. closing in on him, he uttered a warlike scream when Deva ventured to carry the ball away, startling everyone into a split second’s silence and then into yells of laughter. The remainder of the first half of the match, albeit filled with dozens of shoots and good-natured cheers, boasted only of one goal, scored by Nityanshu. The fourth years continued to cheer and the third years looked on, slightly downcast but not excessively so, notwithstanding the yellow card one of their team had received.
The second half of the match too, was concentrated in the wet end of the pitch. Having chased away a dog that had wandered onto the field and usurped the referee’s place, the teams resumed their game. The third year team had not relinquished hope yet, and gamely played on, doing their best to score a goal, but the opposing team did not give them much of a chance. A number of long shots by the third years proved unsuccessful. There were more attempts by Adithya and Nityanshu, but Melwin was never off his guard. There were a couple of instances where the third years managed to keep possession of the ball very nearly until the goalpost, but a swift fourth year would swoop in and, following a deft piece of footwork, the ball would be zipping around their goal post once more. As a result, Haridhar K, the goalkeeper for the fourth years, had little to guard against, all the action being in the opposite end of the field, and was seen lounging about his goalpost. A wild kick, courtesy Vimal George, sent the ball flying into the spectators who scattered with shrieks of alarm. The long shots were dutifully met with encouraging calls of ‘Well done!’ and ‘It doesn’t matter, good try!’. Adithya’s foot appeared to be giving him some trouble, he took a spill twice. So did a couple of other third years and Hari had in a substitute on account of wrenching his ankle (a lot more substitutions occurred in the third years’ team), but he went back in after a while.
The end came uneventfully, with the fourth years celebrating their victory at 1-0 and the third years walking off with good grace when the whistle blew thrice. Groans at failed tries and bracing cheers that went up now and then having been the running accompaniment to the game thus far, the third years joined in the celebration genially, seemingly happy at having made it to the semi finals and at having had a good game. With the third position having been decided, the crowds settled down to watch the first years versus the second years in the final game of the Tournament.
Report by Shweta Venkatesh
Photographs by Sridhar S
Article 19 