Bengal, Bihar girls too good

A hat-trick by Shilpi Deb enabled Bengal to beat Mizoram 3-0 while Bihar walked past Maharashtra by an identical margin in the first under-19 girls' National football championship, currently in progress at two different venues in Goa.

In a match held at the port town of Vasco, Bengal began with full steam and surged ahead in the third minute of the first half through Shilpi Deb, who, in a solo effort, collected a ball from midfield, ran down and unleashed a shot into goal.

Inspired by the lead, Bengal continued in the same vein and increased the lead in the 16th minute through Shilpi, who converted a pass from Papiya Ghosh.

Shilpi completed her hat-trick in the 69th minute after receiving a well measured pass from Doma Mukherjee.

Not a single good move was seen from Mizoram in the first half. In the second half, they had a couple of chances to reduce the margin, but on both the occasions Bengal goalkeeper Manani Ghosh proved equal to the task.

In the second match, held at the Duler ground in Mapusa town, Bihar played a methodical game and led 2-0 at the breather. Sawpna Kumari, in the 25th minute, and Anjana Kumari, in the 26th minute, were the goal-getters.

Both Bihar and Maharashtra appeared evenly balanced, but the latter sadly did not realise their potential, much to the chagrin of coach Sabir Ansari. The only Maharashtra player to put up an inspired performance was skipper Genevie Fernandes, who, however, inspite of her stout defending, could not save her team from an imminent defeat.

Bihar, on the other hand, had players who rose to the occasion. Swapna Kumari and Anjana Rani were a constant threat to the rival defence while Alka kept the strikers busy with constant feeding. In the defence, whatever moves Maharashtra built up were effortlessly cut off by Amita Karketta and Kumari Priyanka.

Both the teams played a waiting game for the first 20 minutes, but Bihar definitely had the edge and took the lead in the 25th minute. An impressive looking unmarked Anjani Rani, after cutting past a couple of defenders, relayed the ball to an unmarked Swapna Kumari, who tapped the ball past the bewildered looking Maharashtra goalkeeper.

A minute later, Bihar made it 2-0 following a bueatiful one to one by Anjani Rani and Neena Gupta. Fittingly Anjana gave the finishing touches. It was delightful goal that heralded the skills of the young brigade.

The second session only confirmed Bihar's hold on the match. In the third minute, Madhumita Sinha capitalised on a defensive lapse to make it 3-0.

In another match played at Vasco's Tilak grounds, Orissa hammered Kerala 5-0 after leading 1-0 at the breather. Laxmi Priya and Thunki Munda scored two goals each while Rosalina Jana scored the other goal.