Kryphsa FC registered a stunning 2-0 victory over defending champions Sethu FC in their 2020 Indian Women’s League group fixture at the Bangalore Football Stadium on Tuesday.
Ratanbala Devi scored in either half to wrap up the three points, leaving the champions contemplating and wounded.
Sethu, however, had the better of the exchanges in the nascent stages but Kryphsa slowly caught up with the tempo. There wasn’t much to differentiate between the two sides in terms of possession.
Ashalata Devi led by example, as the Sethu skipper thwarted danger on multiple occasions, most notably from Dangmei Grace’s mazy run, which was well-read by the veteran time and again.
Speaking of Grace, the Kryphsa skipper deserves credit for making the starting eleven, after having picked up a horrendous injury during the Hero IWL opener, following a nasty collision with Kickstart FC goalkeeper Rashmi Kumari.
The game seemed to be headed towards half-time goalless, but Grace had other ideas. In the second minute of first-half stoppage time, the Indian international disposed Sethu’s Sumithra in the middle of the park and fed a lurking Ratanbala Devi with a quick through ball.
Ashalata Devi recovered on time and had closed down Ratanbala, but the latter exquisitely placed her effort to the keeper’s bottom left, from outside the box.
Sethu came out all guns blazing in the second half but the wind in their sails was subdued at the hour mark. Kryphsha FC pulled off a textbook training ground free-kick from just outside the box. With two volunteers, Anju Tamang and Ratanbala Devi at the end of it, the former feinted her attempt, which prompted the Sethu wall to commit, leaving Ratanbala with a clear sight on goal, and clinical as ever, she made no mistake.
With some fine defensive solidarity, Krypsha saw out the remainder of the game and now look like the team to beat, having scored six in two games, conceding none.
Gokulam Kerala crush Kenkre FC
Earlier in the day, Gokulam Kerala FC ran riot in their Indian Women’s League fixture against Kenkre FC, registering a gargantuan 10-1 victory at the Bangalore Football Stadium.
Gokulam’s Nepali striker Sabitra Bhandari was the star of the show, as she scored five goals. Karishma Shirvoikar notched-up a hat-trick for herself, while Manisha netted two more to make it 10 for the Kerala side.
Kenkre couldn’t get any foothold in the game as their Kerala counterparts completely blew them away and raced to a 7-1 lead going into half-time.
Gokulam opened the scoring in the 7th minute when a Sabitra Bhandari effort was initially saved by Kenkre keeper Monika Devi, but the rebound fell to Karishma, who made no mistake to draw first blood.
Bhandari continued to be the fulcrum of Gokulam’s attack, running circles around the Kenkre defence as they failed to find an answer. She linked up beautifully with Karishma throughout the game, forging a formidable partnership and scoring an astounding eight goals between them. Just like she had created Karishma’s opener, the young forward returned the favour by setting her up minutes later in the 17th minute.
The goal of the game, was scored by Manisha in the 30th minute, when her left-footed curler left everyone astounded, including the keeper, who was left stranded to the spot.
Bhandari completed her hat-trick in first-half stoppage time and added a further two in the second half. The Nepal international narrowly missed out on a double hat-trick, but beautifully set up Karishma for her to wrap-up her three-goal haul.
Kenkre’s defence looked clueless throughout the game, with their only consolation, if any, coming through skipper Soumya Guguloti’s beautiful solo effort in the 35th minute, but the headline had already been drafted.
