Kerala Blasters made their Durand Cup debut with a 1-0 victory over Indian Navy at the Salt Lake Stadium on Saturday.

Uruguayan midfielder Adrian Luna scored the all-important goal when he converted a penalty in the 71st minute.

Scores remained level at half-time and given how wasteful both teams were, it seemed that the game was heading for a barren draw.

Following an erratic challenge inside the box by Navy’s Dalraj Singh, a penalty was awarded in favour of Blasters. Luna made no mistake in making it 1-0 for his side.

“We are happy with the three points. It was really hard in these circumstances with the rain and the pitch condition. We wanted to finish the game without injuries but now we have to see how to recover some of our players,” Blasters head coach Ivan Vukomanovic said after the match.