Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Shillong: Rising Student's Club (RSC) were crowned champions of the 2018 Hero Indian Women’s League, winning 5-4 on penalties over Eastern Sporting Union (ESU), after a 1-1 draw in extra time at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Saturday.
RSC started the match on an attacking note and in the third minute, a scramble from inside the box led Ngoubi Devi to an opportunity but shot wide over the goal.
Undeterred by the early pressure, ESU staged attacks of their own and in the 13th minute Roja Devi found the back of the net from outside the box.
In the 19th minute, Mandakini Devi’s attempt from a tight angle inside the box shot the side-netting as ESU pressed to double their lead. Supriya Routray had a chance to equalise proceedings for RSC five minutes from the break after a corner kick found her unmarked, but a goal eluded her.
Going into the second half, ESU hunted to double their lead while RSC played on counter-attacks. The constant pressure from ESU led RSC to commit bodies into defence, and in the 51st minute, Roja Devi connected on a cross but her shot from inside the box went way wide of the goal, as ESU showed their intent.
The defensive line of ESU mopped up any RSC attacks that cropped up with ease, while the midfield held onto possession of the ball.
RSC were awarded a penalty in the 71st minute after a foul inside the box and Sanju slotted the ball home from the spot to level proceedings. The full-time scoreline read one goal apiece as the match proceeded into extra time.
ESU pressed for the decisive goal but failed to find the net and after 120 minutes of play the scoreline still read 1-1 as the match proceeded to penalties where RSC eventually won 5-4.
Meanwhile, RSC were awarded INR 1 million for being crowned champions of the Hero Indian Women’s League second edition, while runners-up ESU were awarded INR 500,000.
KRYPHSA FC's Bala Devi was awarded INR 100,000 for finishing as top-scorer of the league with 12 goals, while compatriot Panthoi Chanu was awared INR 100,000 for bagging the 'Best Goalkeeper Award'.
The ‘Most Valuable Player’ was awarded to ESU's Prameshwori Devi with INR 125,000 and KRYPHSA's Dangmei Grace won INR 75,000 for earning the ‘Emerging Player Award’.