Owes it to Sabitra Bhandari, who scores two goals
Sethu FC turned around a first-half deficit to defeat Manipur Police SC 3-1 and win the Indian Women’s League (IWL) here on Wednesday.
Radharani Devi put Manipur Police in the lead towards the end of the first half, but an own goal by Umapati Devi put Sethu back in the game before Nepal international Sabitra Bhandari scored two goals to win it for the Madurai-based side.
In the first-half, Sethu kept the Manipur attackers in check and built on swift counter-attacks to move the ball up the pitch quickly. Left-winger Sandhiya was lively in the opening exchanges, running down the left flank to trouble the Manipur defence.
Tight marking
Manipur Police’s Bala Devi was tightly marked and she often had to drop to the midfield or to the right wing in order to make some space for herself.
With a little over a minute of regulation time left for the first-half, Manipur Police’s Radharani leaped above the others and nodded in a corner from the left.
Deflection
Sethu came out with more vigour in the second half and got the goal that it was looking for. Dangmei Grace broke down the right and sent in a low cross. However, it took a deflection off Manipur Police defender Umapati Devi and was unfortunately declared an own goal.
It took the Madurai-based side around another five minutes to take the lead for the first time as its mercurial Nepalese striker Sabitra was set through on the goal. She rounded off the opposite custodian before slotting in.
Sabitra scored her second goal after Sandhiya broke swiftly down the left and played her in through the channel between the left back and the left centre-back.
The result:
Sethu FC 3 (Umapati Devi-og, Sabitra Bhandari 2) Manipur Police 1 (Radharani Devi).
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