Manipur emerge group winners en route to final round
Source: Chronicle News Service
Imphal, April 06 2023:
Manipur beat Karnataka 4-2 in their last qualifying round match to emerge Group VI winners en route to the final round of the 27th Senior Women's National Football Championship.
The state squad ended the qualifying stage unbeaten on Thursday by making a clean sweep of all their four matches.
Manipur roared into action from the word go and were ahead of Karnataka just five minutes from kickoff.
It was M Manda who found the opener.
Karnataka, however, bounced back strongly as they overturned the score with a double in the space of 12 minutes.
Kaviya Pakkirisamy made all square in the 32nd minute and then Aruna Bag converted in the 44th minute to make sure Karnataka went into the second period taking a 2-1 lead.
After being outscored, Manipur got their act together and came up with a three -goal barrage while keeping their opponents at bay through the second-half contest, thanks to H Daya and Lynda Kom.
Daya put Manipur back into contention with a 48th minute strike before she scored her second goal in the 52nd minute to give the state women the lead.
Then Lynda added a goal in the 75th minute as Manipur held their ground to emerge 4-2 and group winners' .
The final round will see a total of 12 teams - six group winners, five best runners-up, and Railways, who have been given direct entry.
The 12 teams will be divided into two groups of six each.
The top two teams from each group will qualify for the semifinals.