FC Kolhapur City registered their first Indian Women’s League victory after overcoming Baroda Football Academy 2-0 at the Bangalore Football Stadium on Monday.
Lhingneilam Kipgen opened Kolhapur’s account on the 24th minute before Subhadra Sahu put them in cruise control on the 70th-minute mark.
The win might have arrived a little too late, with Kolhapur mathematically out for a semi-final place but Baroda had everything to play for and a win would have still kept them in contention.
Their IWL dreams were dashed, however, with the first blow arriving in the 24th minute. Kipgen capitalised on a defensive miscue and latched onto a loose ball. With a flurry of Baroda legs closing her down, she got her shot away just in time and clinically to the keeper’s right, giving Afshan Ashiq very little chance.
Subhadra Sahu sealed the deal in the second half as she showed great instinct to react first to a rebound and followed up to double the advantage for her team.
Baroda did little to monument a comeback as Kolhapur held on for the win. Both teams swap places in the Group A standings, with the winners rising to fourth with as many points, while Baroda dropped a place below to fifth.
Going into the final group stage fixture, either side will be out of contention for a place in the semi-final but will certainly have pride to play for.
In another match, Kenkre FC moved a step closer towards rubberstamping their place in the semi-finals of the fourth edition of IWL by registering a 3-1 victory over West Bengal’s Sreebhumi FC.
Kenkre skipper Soumya Guguloth scored a brace before Aarti pulled one back for Sreebhumi to make it anyone’s game. Asha Kumari added a third early in the second half for Kenkre and allowed them to sail on the two-goal cushion towards three points.
Sreebhumi, who are now mathematically out of the race for a place in the IWL semis, needed to win this fixture to keep their hopes alive.