Cuttack: Orissa eves thrashed West Bengal 3-0 to book a final berth in the Junior National Girls’ football championships at the Orissa Police Ground here Tuesday. They will face Thursday old foes Manipur for the title. The northeastern side eked out a narrow 2-1 win over Delhi.
In the Orissa-Bengal encounter, both sides started cautiously. However, slowly the Orissa girls started dominating proceedings. Their hard work paid off when striker Jasoda Munda put the hosts ahead on 27 minutes.
After the change of ends, Bengal introduced forward Titli Sarkar in place of defender Asha Das on 54 minutes. It however did not have any impact on the hosts as young talented Bannya Kabiraj, who has represented India at the junior level many times, doubled the lead in the 70th minute.
The goal almost dashed the hopes of the Bengal girls as they faltered to grab scoring opportunities. Jasoda then put the icing on the cake by scoring in the 87th minute.
“We played a very compact game today (Tuesday),” coach Gitanjali Khuntia said after the match. “The girls combined well and utilised the chances that came their way,” she added.
In the other semifinal, Manipur had to fight hard to win the game against Delhi. Thounaojam Kritina Devi broke the deadlock four minutes from the break to put Manipur ahead.
Delhi replied strongly as substitute Anya Goyal restored parity on 59 minutes, four minutes after she replaced Tripti Behera.
Their joy however was short-lived as Manipur regain the lead a minute later when striker H Daya Devi found the back of the net with a wonderful strike from the edge of the box.
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