Shillong, June 22: Hosts Meghalaya will clash with Manipur in the girls’ final of the Assam Rifles CAPF Under-19 Football Talent Hunt Tournament after both came through their respective semifinal matches at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here today.
Meghalaya had to weather some late pressure against Nagaland, but won 2-1 in the end, while Manipur had an easier time of it versus Mizoram, winning handsomely 6-0.
Pynhun Shulet scored both of Meghalaya’s goals; in fact she has produced all of Meghalaya’s seven goals in the tournament so far.
She bagged the lead for her team in the 21st minute when a chipped ball forward saw Shulet tear past her marker. Swerving past the advancing goalkeeper, she scored with a low shot into the net.
Seven minutes later and she was at it again, this time pulling off a tight angled shot with her left boot. Although the goalie got her hands to the ball, her block went up and hit the bar before bouncing down over the line.
Nagaland got their defence kicking in the second half, effectively negating the Shulet threat to their citadel. The 43rd minute then saw Nagaland pull a goal back after a cross from the right flank met substitute Arhoni N Kikon, who, despite having three defenders to contend with, pulled off a shot that beat the keeper.
Stoppage time almost saw Nagaland bag another, but their two players up front could not get a touch in front of goal to a cross from the left.
Meanwhile, in the earlier fixture, N Ratanbala Devi scored five of Manipur’s goals in a completely dominating performance against Mizoram.
Devi secured her hat-trick in just over 20 minutes, scoring in the 10th, 12th and 22nd minutes. S Ranjana Chanu then made it 4-0 with a 25th minute goal.
Crossing over, Devi continued on her way in the second half, negotiating two defenders after swerving past the custodian to score her fourth in the 41st minute. And just before full time, the Mizoram goalie came out of the penalty box in order to clear the ball, but that went awry, allowing Devi to score her fifth of the match.
The best chance for Mizoram came a few minutes earlier when Vanlalhriattiri Bawihtlung’s shot hit the crossbar.
Mizoram have little time to rest as they will be involved in the third-place playoff against Nagaland tomorrow at 1:00pm. Meghalaya and Tripura will then meet at 3:30pm for the boys’ third-place contest.
