Priya PV’s Tigresses built on their opening day success in stunning fashion, as they emerged 5-2 victors over the Panthers in the first game of Matchday two of the Hero Under-17 Women’s Championship played at the Kalyani Municipal Stadium on Wednesday. Anju and Amisha Baxla were the stars of the show for the Tigresses, with the former grabbing a brace and the latter contributing with two assists and one goal. With the win, Priya’s side take their tally to six points from two fixtures.

  • Anju grabbed her first goal of the evening with a neat finish in the 14th minute.
  • Nitu Linda’s stunner from more than 20-yards would double the Tigresses’ lead three minutes later.
  • In the 27th minute, Anju grabbed her second from a beautiful Amisha Baxla cross.
  • Amisha then made it 4-0 in the 57th minute.
  • Karen Estrocio finished off a stunning team move to make it 5-0 to the Tigresses in the 66th minute.
  • Sree Lakshmi A got one back for the Panthers ten minutes later.
  • Lalnun Siami chipped the keeper to score Panthers’ second of the night.

The pattern of play was pretty much set from the first minute with the Tigresses dominating possession thanks to their midfield trio of Nitu, Aveka Singh and Martina Thokchom. The deserved first goal eventually came as Amisha played a perfect ball in behind the Panthers defence in the 14th minute, thus putting Anju through on goal. The winger made no mistake either, slotting the ball past the onrushing Anjali Barke in the Panthers goal.

Priya’s unit doubled their lead three minutes later, with the diminutive Nitu unleashing a 30-yard drive after collecting the ball from her midfield partner Aveka. With the pace and curl on the strike, there was very little Barke could do.

The coordination of the Tigresses’ midfield and wingers was proving too much for the Panthers to handle, with the brilliant Anju grabbing her second of the game in the 27th minute. Nitu was once again instrumental in the move, as her pass behind the defence released Amisha, whose pinpoint cross made Anju’s job that much easier.

The winger had quite a few opportunities to grab her hat-trick before half-time, but some good positioning by Barke in the Panthers goal meant Priya PV’s side had to be content with a three-goal advantage at the end of the first 45.

In the initial 10 minutes after the restart, the Panthers did assert themselves to an extent and made it difficult for the Tigresses. However, Tigresses side once again showed their class in the 57th minute, with Nitu orchestrating another great move to release Amisha, who smacked a terrific drive to make it 4-0 to the Tigresses.

Six minutes after the hour mark, Tigresses further demonstrated their scintillating coordination, as Aveka played the umpteenth ball behind the Panthers defence, releasing Amisha who just simply squared the ball for Karen Estrocio. With an empty net beckoning and no one challenging her, Karen rolled the ball in to make it 5-0 to the Tigresses.

The Panthers, however, showed immense grit and found their first piece of joy in the 77th minute. Lalnun Siami slashed a ball past the Tigresses defence and found Sree Lakshmi A free at the far post. The Panthers’ no. 3 made no mistake and made the score 5-1.

Three minutes later, Siami’s effort would once again be rewarded, as Jyoti Kumari failed to get her clearance right and presented Siami with a wonderful opportunity to grab a goa to show for her tireless work throughout the match. The Panthers’ no.5 didn’t disappoint, producing a beautiful chip to outfox Manisha in the Tigresses’ goal. That would, however, prove to be the final goal of the match as the Tigresses registered a 5-2 win.

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2019-2020