Kickstart, Sethu FC win big; Odisha Police edge Mata Rukmani in IWL

Sirvodem slumped to the bottom of the league after the loss to Kickstart FC.

Kickstart maintained their winning streak as they hand Sirvodem a second consecutive defeat after a dominant 7-0 win in the Indian Women's League (IWL) 2021-22 at the Capital Ground on Wednesday, April 20. 

The Karnataka-based side made a quick and dominating start as they scored as many as three goals within the first quarter of the game.

Winger Kaviya opened the scoring in the sixth minute, followed by an own goal from Sirvodem defender Sharda a couple of minutes later. Kaviya once again bagged a goal contribution as her inch-perfect cross in the 12th minute was finely tapped in by Kiranbala. 

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Kaviya ran riots along the right-wing forcing the Sirvodem defence to stumble with the latter’s goalkeeper Afsan Ashiq fumbling frequently.

The goal shower continued with forward Roja Devi perfectly utilising the Sirvodem custodian’s howler to increase the lead to 4-0 within the 17th minute.  

Kickstart kept a large proportion of the possession all through the game with their continued domination, rattling the Goan side. Babysana pulled the strings from the midfield as the Karnataka-based side orchestrated waves of attacks, one of which led Prameshwori Irom to score the fifth goal on the 25th minute.

Minutes before the halftime break, Indian international Roja Devi earned a brace for herself as she found the back of the net, making it a six-goal lead for Kickstart FC, going into the breather.

Changing over, Sirvodem came out with a lot more intent and held their shape for large parts of the game. They kept their opponents at bay, preventing Kickstart from scoring more until substitute Lawmching found the net with less than 10 minutes of regulation time left on the clock. This is the fourth time in the IWL this season that a side has scored five or more goals in a game.

With this win, Kickstart climb to second in the IWL table with six points from two matches, and a goal difference of nine.

Odisha Police edge Mata Rukmani FC

Odisha Police eked out a 1-0 win against Mata Rukmani in their second match of the Indian Women’s League (IWL) 2022 played at the 7th Battalion Ground on Tuesday, April 19, 2022.

Odisha Police earned an early free-kick in the fifth minute as Sarojini Tirkey drew a foul in a dangerous area. However, the local club couldn’t capitalise on the free kick. Subsequently, in the 17th minute, Arati Khadia found an opportunity to score as she cut in from the left flank. Unfortunately, her attempt on goal missed the frame by whiskers.

At the other end, Mata Rukmani too had a chance to take the lead before half-time, but forward Priyanka Kashyap hit the side netting as the scoreline remained 0-0.

After the restart, Sarojini Tirkey again found herself in a goal-scoring position. This time, she completely missed the target. Odisha Police looked quite composed in the second half and found some good breakthroughs. In the 72nd minute, they almost took the lead when Jharana Mallik attempted a cross from the right flank. 

To everyone’s surprise, the ball looked certain to end up in the net, but was halted in its tracks by the crossbar. Mata Rukmani defenders were quick to react and cleared the ball as soon as it dropped to the ground.

Finally, Odisha Police’s efforts paid off in the 84th minute when substitute Jasmani Samad found the target from inside the box to give her side the lead. Mata Rukmani made a double substitution in an attempt to score the equaliser, but to no avail. The referee blew the full-time whistle as the game ended 1-0 in Odisha Police’s favour. They moved up to the eighth spot in the IWL table.

Sethu FC ease past ARA FC

Dominant Sethu FC picked up a comfortable 3-0 win over ARA FC at the Kalinga Stadium in their second Indian Women’s League (IWL) 2022 game on Wednesday, April 20, 2022. 

The team from Madurai made a solid start and created some eye-catching passages of play. In the first 15 minutes, they enjoyed a massive 68 percent ball possession against ARA FC’s 32 percent. However, neither side could find a breakthrough as they headed into the break with the scores locked at 0-0.

Following the restart, Sethu FC picked up from where they left and continued charging at the opposition goal. Eventually, they found the breakthrough on the 50th minute via Sandhiya Ranganathan. The skipper cut in from the right and scored a scorcher, curling the ball into the top corner from outside the box. 

Around the hour mark, Karthika Angamuthu made it 2-0 for Sethu FC with a powerful header from inside the box. She made the most of a wonderful cross sent in by her fellow India international Anju Tamang from the right flank.

In quick-fire succession, Sethu FC found a third as ARA FC midfielder Poonam turned Sandhiya Ranganathan’s cross into her own net. It was yet another scintillating performance from the former IWL champions as the referee blew the full-time whistle to hand them a second consecutive win.

With this win, Sethu move to the third spot on the Hero IWL table, having garnered six points from two matches, with a goal difference of eight to their name.