Shillong, Jun 14: Meghalaya’s wonderful run in the Hero Sub-Junior Girls National Football Championship came to an end with a narrow 2-1 defeat to Gujarat in Cuttack today.
This was the match that would decide which team progressed to the quarterfinals from Group G as both Meghalaya and Gujarat had won their opening two fixtures.
The Meghalaya girls did not have much time to recover from their last match on Wednesday, but dominated today’s game right from the first minute.
Sanfida Nongrum then gave Meghalaya the lead in the eighth minute with her fourth goal of the tournament. She thus has the distinction of scoring in each of Meghalaya’s three games.
Gujarat, however, equalised just four minutes later and 1-1 was how it was to remain until the second half.
Meghalaya continued to be the dominant side, though, but missed a few chances and that ended up costing them as Gujarat were able to score one more goal to take the match and the spot in the quarterfinals.
Nevertheless, Meghalaya’s girls can come home proud after two wins and just the one defeat. It has been a learning experience for the team, who have never played at this level together before, as well as a good bonding experience that should stand them in good stead for the future.
