Chennai, April 2 :    Chennai, April 2:  BENGAL 3 KERALA 1 Not just the opponents, even his teammates seem awe-struck by the kind of form Bhaichung Bhutia is now in. Playing the captain?s role to perfection, Bhaichung scored once and set up another but the manner in which defending champions Bengal upended Kerala 3-1 in today?s semi-final questions that answer. First half goals from Bhaichung, Raman Vijayan and Carlton Chapman negated the glaring lack of coordination in the defence and midfield and carried Bengal into their 39th national football championship final but, at least initially, it didn?t look as easy as the scoreline at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium suggests. No Bengal supporter will like to be reminded that the star-studded team could hold on to their lead for only 11 minutes before Asif Saheer got the equaliser. Had C.V.Sunny not wasted a superb three-forward move by shooting out from inside the rectangle in the 35th minute and M. Boniface not hit out from close earlier, the half-time score could well read 3-2. And that may have given the script a totally different ending. Apart from the ever-reliable Ranjan Dey, confidence was at a premium in Bengal?s flat back four. Both Phalguni Dutta, used on the right side of the defence and Ratan Singh, his counterpart on the left, were hard-pressed to contain Kerala?s down-the-wing sorties. Looking fitter and faster of the teams in the first half, the former champions from the south ? egged on by the sparse crowd ? organised themselves better and played at a faster pace causing their illustrious rivals all sorts of problems. An off-colour Debjit Ghosh compounded woes, robbing the midfield of a ball winner. Timely goals bailed out the 28-time champions today and left the young Kerala team, as coach M.M.Jacob put it, too demoralised to go for the jugular. Sunday?s final against Goa ? for the fourth time in as many years ? may however be a different proposition. It was individual brilliance more than collective effort that kept Bengal in the hunt for a record sixth successive title. And the lion?s share of it came from Bhaichung. With Basudeb Mondal emerging next best. From the second minute, when he headed Chapman?s right-flank cross into Vijayan?s path ? through his forward pass for Dipendu Biswas, after snatching the ball from and then evading Jiju Jacob in the 80th minute, Bhaichung was Bengal?s livewire in the front third. Fittingly, he got the first goal, for the third time in this 55th national football championship for the Bharat Petroleum Santosh Trophy in the 12th minute. Fittingly again it was Basudeb who sent in the measured cross from the right to which Bhaichung put the finishing touches, heading home after outjumping two defenders. Saheer equalised with his eighth goal of the meet in the 23rd minute, punching K.V. Dhanesh?s free-kick from the left into the roof of the net after being left unmarked inside the six-yard box. Bengal?s second and third goals stemmed from sloppy defending. A.S. Firoz?s mis-kick ? while attempting a clearance ? gave the ball more height than distance and the intelligent Raman Vijayan relayed it to Bhaichung with a back-header. Bhaichung moved in striking distance and even as Jacob ? the former India defender was made to look ordinary by the Bengal captain ? ran in to cover the angle, passed to Vijayan who blasted home. This was in the 33rd minute. Chapman made it 3-1 at the stroke of half time with a well-directed header off Basudeb?s corner after being left alone just outside the six-yard box. Kerala couldn?t pick themselves up thereafter despite Bengal retreating into their own half. The only time Prashanta Dora was tested was 10 minutes from time when he dived to his left to collect a header from Saheer. Bengal too showed little inclination in moving up during breakaways, leaving Bhaichung to often go it alone. The closest they came to scoring was in the 54th minute, when Bhaichung, hemmed in by three players, chipped the ball to East Bengal teammate Chapman whose right- footer hit the intersection of the post and the upright. And the match which promised much initially degenerated into a drab encounter. TEAMS BENGAL: Prashanta Dora, Phalguni Datta, Franky Barreto, Ranjan Dey, Ratan Singh, Carlton Chapman, Basudeb Mondal, Debjit Ghosh, Khemtang Paite (Soumitra Chakraborty, 80th), Raman Vijayan (Dipendu Biswas, 62nd), Bhaichung Bhutia. KERALA: M. V. Nelson, Martin Mathew, A. S. Firoz, Jiju Jacob, K. V. Dhanesh, M. Boniface, M. K. Sunil, K. Noushad (S. Earnest, 70th), C. V. Sunny, Asif Saheer, Mohammed Najeeb (V. P. Shaji, 65th). Referee: K. Sankar.