Stadium erupts in a wave of yellow

KOCHI: The second Kochi Blasters FC match in the city proved to be a nail-biter on Saturday evening with over 61,845 spectators creating a sea of yellow in the stands. Although the match ended in a draw, fans chanted and shouted relentlessly for the entire 90 minutes of the game. But, when it came to crowd management and parking, the hundreds of policemen on duty at the venue were not up to the mark in organizing a quick and efficient exit for spectators.
The roads of the city were choc-a-block with fans carrying large drums and donning the signature yellow and blue colours, shouting and singing all the way to the stadium. Through the entire course of the match, groups of drummers in various parts of the stadium drummed their beats according to the mood of the moment with their tempos speeding up every time Kochi Blasters' players inched closer to scoring a goal.
At half-time, the announcer requested the fans to turn on their mobile flashlights as thousands of tiny lights swayed to the tune of the music. Fans cheered, booed, blew horns, chanted and danced all the way till the end.
"The energy was amazing, I've been to matches in Bangalore and Chennai, but in Kochi it's a whole other scene. We came expecting a win, the match was quite exciting." said Balaji B Shenoy, who attended the match with his brothers, both of whom were playing small kettle drums during the match.
Sadly it seemed that all did not end quite well after the match. Although alternate routes for traffic were put in place, every road and bylane was blocked for more than an hour after the match. The parking space provided was a cesspool of mud, garbage and slush. Meanwhile there were also many cases of groping even though there were dozens of police personnel all around the venue.