Cuttack: Hosts Orissa failed to break the Manipur jinx as they went down 2-3 to the visitors in the final of the Junior Girls’ national football championships at the Barabati Stadium here Thursday. It was heart-breaking for the hosts in the rain-interrupted summit clash as they again had to be satisfied with a runners-up finish.
Both teams started on an aggressive note, but as they game progressed, the Manipur eves took control. They went ahead in the 22nd minute when T Kritina Devi beat Orissa custodian Sanjukta Tirkey with a powerful shot.
Buoyed by the lead, the side from the north-east continued with their attacking vein. They were creating gaps in the Orissa defence and could have added two more goals in the next five minutes. However, their strikers were off target.
However, in the 41st minutes, Manipur doubled their lead when A Raja Devi scored off a combined move down the middle.
Just when it seemed that the visitors will run away with the game, they conceded a self goal in the 43rd minute giving the hosts a sniff of hope.
With the rain pouring incessantly and the players finding it very difficult to maintain their footings, the game degenerated into a muddy affair in the second session. The Orissa eves restored parity when Suman Pragyan scored a spectacular goal in the 79th minute.
Immediately after the goal, the referee stopped the game for 30 minutes as it had become impossible to play. That probably affected the concentration of the Orissa youngsters. They failed to find their rhythm and Manipur took advantage of it. Raja Devi then broke Oriya hearts with a strike in added on time (91st minute) to help her team win the title.
Barabati Cuttack MLA Debashis Samantaray, Orissa Athletics Association secretary Asirbad Behera were present as guest and distributed the prizes.
Football Association of Orissa (FAO) also felicitated the four Oriya women footballers, who represented the senior national team in the recently-concluded Malaysia series with a cash award of Rs 10,000 each.
Former India captain and national selector Bembem Devi was also felicitated. FAO also announced a cash award of Rs 5,000 each for all the players, coach, manager and support staff of Orissa junior girls’ football team.
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