Maharashtra girl’s made a bright positive start as they struck once in each half to record an authoritative 2-0 win against Sikkim in the opening Group-C league match of the AIFF National Girls’ Under-18 Football Championship, at Raia, Goa on Monday. The feature of Maharashtra’s win was striker Jyoti Mehra’s brilliant twin strikes, which sealed the win.
Maharastra took the lead in the 11th minute when Jyoti Mehra intercepted a pass and dribbled past two defenders before deftly placing the ball past the rival goalkeeper. Midway through the second period Jyoti once again seized a golden opportunity to score the second goal of the match.
Jyoti Mehra
Coach Durva Vahia lauded the efforts of her players. “The game was well contested. Our girls played really well and proved successful. We could have won by a bigger margin, but missed a lot of chances, also the the Sikkimese goalkeeper made some excellent and timely saves,” said Vahia after the game.
In the three team group, Sikkim will play Haryana on the Wednesday, while Maharashtra and Haryana will meet in the concluding group match on Friday Group winners will qualify for the Quarter Final League stage which will also be played in Goa.