Jaipur, Oct 15
There were goals aplenty in two Group D matches of the 29th Senior Women's National Football Championship for the Rajmata Jijabai Trophy at the Vidhyadharnagar Stadium on Tuesday as Maharashtra recorded a massive 26-0 victory over Andaman & Nicobar, and Delhi defeated Pondicherry 11-0.
Bettering Delhi's 21-0 win over Andaman & Nicobar two days ago, Maharashtra took pole position thanks to a better goal difference. A draw against Delhi in the final group match on Thursday will be enough for Maharashtra to qualify for the final round. Delhi will need a victory to bag top spot.
Maharashtra's 26 goals were netted by nine different players. Vaishnavi Barate (3', 11', 24', 29', 35') and captain Arya More (27', 74', 76', 90+2', 90+4') scored five goals each. Sakshi Hiwale (1', 28', 33', 45+5') got four to her name. Payal Kothari (40', 80', 90+5') and substitute Urvi Salunkhe (65', 78', 88') got a hat-trick each. Pooja Gupta scored a brace (64', 90+6'), while Prerna Meshram (16'), Ritika Singh (42') and Shravani Nigade (75') netted one each. Andaman & Nicobar's Ishita Nagda scored an own goal (45+2').
For Delhi, Fragrancy Riwan opened the scoring (4') before Deepika Pal (37', 57', 61', 89') and Sanfida Nongrum (2', 32', 33', 45') did the bulk of the scoring. Debika Tanti scored two after coming from the bench (70', 84').