Narainpur, Dec 11 West Bengal and Railways began their campaign in the Final Round of the 29th Senior Women's National Football Championship for Rajmata Jijabai Trophy 2024-25 with victories against Punjab and Sikkim, respectively, in Group B, at the Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama Ground on Wednesday.
While Bengal thrashed Punjab 6-0 in the first match of the day, Railways edged past Sikkim 3-2 in the day’s second outing. Haryana are the other team in the group.
Bengal produced a dominant performance as India international Rimpa Haldar scored five and Tania Kanti scored the other to help their side complete a 6-0 victory against Punjab. The winners led 2-0 at half time.
Rimpa opened the scoring in the 14th minute, followed by another right-footed strike in the next minute. She again turned to scoring in the second half and ripped apart Punjab's defence to complete her hat-trick in the 56th minute. Rimpa curled another one in the 66th minute from the edge of the box and slammed her fifth goal in the 77th minute.
Substitute Tania Kanti added the last goal to complete a big win for Sujata Kar’s side. She attempted a long-range shot, but Punjab's goalkeeper Divya blocked it. The rebound fell at Tania's feet, and this time she made no mistake.
Railways managed to get the three points and won by 3-2 after a hard-fought battle over Sikkim. The winners scored all three goals in the first half before Sikkim made a spirited comeback to score two goals.
Mamta scored the first goal for Railways in the 25th minute after being faced with a one-on-one opportunity with Sikkim's goalkeeper, Gyurme Tamang. Although defender Priya Chhetri tried to clear it off the line, Mamta found the rebound, and successfully slotted it home. Mamta scored her second goal in the 43rd minute from Sanju's corner and flicked the ball in. Railways scored their third one through Jabamani's header in the 45+3rd minute.
Sikkim managed to score two goals in the second half, thanks to captain and striker Simran Gurung's efforts. She netted her first goal in the 47th minute, taking advantage of a rebound that came off Railways goalkeeper Rashmi Kumari's hand. In the 77th minute, she added another goal from a counter attack.
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