Purple WE triumph at Discover Football Women’s Festival 2017

Local girls Candice Fernandes and Alisha Tavares shine in Purples' victory...

Purple Women’s Empowerment edged past Turquoise Female Autonomy 1-0 in the Final of the Discover Football Women’s Festival 2017 played at Duler Football Stadium, Mapusa Goa on Saturday.

The Purples started the match on an attacking note as they came close thrice to scoring within five minutes of the kick-off. On one of these occasions, Jyoti Burrett tried her luck from distance, only to see it blocked by Turquoise’s keeper Saba Parveen. Turquoise quickly replied with a counter-attack when Karishma Shirvoikar made a drifting run from her own half and shot on the goal from inside the box but Purples shot-stopper Rhea made a diving save.

Jyoti had another chance to take her side into the lead when she was picked by Ekambara Subramanian with a perfect cross in the box but Jyoti headed wide from close range. the women in Blue also had an opportunity to open the tally when Karishma smartly directed Vailanka D’Souza’s free-kick towards goal but Purples’ defender Candice Fernandes made a goal-line clearance to keep her side safe. With both the sides showcasing tight defending, the game went into the breather goalless.

The start of the second half saw both sides wasting one opportunity each. First, Turquoise’s Karishma shot wide from point-blank range, while at the other end, Jyoti saw her long-ranger miss the target by a whisker. However a minute later, Purples took the lead through Jyoti. This time she made no mistake to shoot past keeper Saba from a counter attack initiated by defender Shrutika Amle.

Down by a goal, Turquoise refused to give up and tried hard to find the equaliser. The local girls Vailanka and Karishma gave their best to find the leveller but the opponent’s defenders Candice and Alisha Tavares kept every danger away from their side.    

In the day’s other playoff matches, Cream Gender Equality secured third place by defeating Ebony Equal Opportunity 2-0. Tenzin opened the tally for the Creams when the match was just four minutes old, while Usha scored in the last minute of the match and confirmed Creams' victory.

Elsewhere, Silver Self-Determination also registered a massive 6-2 win over Blue Bodily Integrity to finish the tournament in fifth position. Anline Fernandes scored a hat-trick, while Nevile Colado scored a brace for her side, Monika Rani scored the other goal. Yashika Deshmukh scored the two consolation goals for the Blues.

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In the other match, Vinita Bhagat Neti scored a hat-trick to help Golden Grow Visibility blank Crimson Mutual Consent 4-0 to secure 7th place amongst in the 8-team tournament. Anitha Raju scored the fourth goal for the Goldens.