IWL: Eastern Sporting Union thump Gokulam Kerala FC; Sethu FC rise to beat Rising Student's Club

Shillong, April 2: Eastern Sporting Union kept their 100 per cent win record intact with a 2-0 victory over Gokulam Kerala FC in the Indian Women's League at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here in Shillong on Monday (April 2). Mandakini opened the scoring in the first half with her strike in the 24th minute before Kamala Devi doubled the lead after the break in the 50th minute. The win took Eastern Sporting to 12 points from four matches. Later, Sethu FC notched up second win, beating Rising Student's Club 2-0.

In the third match of the day, KRYHPSA continued their unbeaten run with a 2-0 victory over India Rush SC. Captain Bala Devi struck first blood in the 21st minute with a header before she doubled the lead in the minute. The win takes KRYHPSA to 7 points from their 3 matches while India Rush SC are yet to register a single point.

Eastern Sporting Union came into the match on back of three victories while Gokulam Kerala FC thumped Indira Gandhi ASE 6-1 in their previous encounter. Both teams started off on a positive note, putting the ball into each other's boxes.

All Rise | Beating the Rush" title="Opening win | All Rise | Beating the Rush" />Opening win | All Rise | Beating the Rush

Eastern's Kamala Devi combined with captain Prameshwori Devi to have a go at the goal early in the game. The breakthrough came in the 24th minute when Mandakini struck from outside the box. Her shot from 30 yards out found the far corner.

Kamala had a chance to double the lead in the 29th but her shot was blocked. Gokulam, on the other hand, found it difficult to get the ball forward. Ikwaput Fazila, who scored five against Indira Gandhu ASE, made a run into the box in the 31st but was unable to find the net. A serious injury to Naocha in the 42nd minute made her leave the field on a stretcher.

Eastern returned from the break and doubled their lead in the 50th minute. Kamala's curling left-footer made it 2-0 for the reigning champions. Meanwhile, at the other end Fazila was unable to show her usual set of skills as Umapati Devi and Manisa Panna kept her under check.

Apart from a save by Rashmi to deny Kamala in the 77th minute, no other noteworthy chances were created as Eastern Sporting Union notched up their fourth consecutive win to top the table.

Rising to the occasion

Later, Rising Student's Club slumped to a defeat as Sethu FC rose to the occasion to beat them 2-0.

Bangladeshi striker Sabina Khatun struck in the 47th minute before Manisha doubled the score line with her strike in the 90th minute to notch up the win.

Rising Student's Club came off stronger of the two as they went on the attack straightaway. Anju Tamang saw her shot go just wide in the 2nd minute before Sanju shot it straight toward Sowmiya in the 5th.

The other frontline players of Ngoubi and Pyari Xaxa also joined in as they had a crack at the goal in the opening ten minutes. A brilliant save by Sowmiya off Anju kept the Southern side at parity in the 11th minute, in a spell which saw some frantic defending by Sethu.

The game slowed down but Rising kept the pressure intact with Pyari coming close with her header in the 38th minute before Sanju's shot was saved just before half-time. Goalkeeper Sowmiya being the solid wall between the goal and Rising players.

The 2nd half started with a bang as Indumathi's pass split the Rising defence. Sabina Khatun did the rest as she scored to give Sethu the lead in the 47th minute. The goal seemed to charge up Sethu as they made more frequent forays into the Rising box. Jabamani Tudu did the star turn as she pulled off a goal-line save.

With the minutes ticking, Rising drove forward in numbers but the goal remained elusive. With the team playing a high line, it left them vulnerable to counter attacks and Manisha utilised one such opportunity as she scored in the 90th minute to complete the win.

Match results:

Gokulam Kerala FC 0 lost to Eastern Sporting Union 2 (Mandakini 24, Kamala Devi 50)

Rising Student's Club 0 lost to Sethu FC 2(Sabina Khatun 47, Manisha 90)

KRYHPSA 2 (Bala Devi 21, 61) bt India Rush Soccer Club 0

Source: AIFF Media