Football: Sethu FC trounce Kolhapur City in Indian Women's League, Cuttack beat Baroda

Sethu FC demolished FC Kolhapur City 9-0 while SAI-STC Cuttack bounced back with a convincing 4-0 win over Baroda Football Academy in the Indian Women’s League at Ludhiana on Sunday.

Sethu FC’s Sabitra Bhandari and Ratanbala Devi scored a hat-trick each at the Guru Nanak Stadium. Sethu were dominant from the start, and it took them all of four minutes to break the deadlock as Dangmei Grace finished off a quick move.

A little over a quarter of an hour later, the India international netted again, this time, from the penalty spot. Just four minutes later, Dangmei’s India teammate Ratanbala scored two in quick succession to make the scoreline 4-0 in Sethu’s favour, even before the half-hour mark.

Kolhapur defender Jabamani Tudu added an own goal from a cross by Ratanbala on the stroke of half time.

Sethu’s Nepal international joined the act in the second half, scoring a hat-trick in 20 minutes, starting with a 57th minute goal that ended with a Cristiano Ronaldo-like celebration.

The second goal by Sabitra was a slick team move that was started off by Sandhiya, before Ratanbala put her through to score.

Sabitra linked up well with Sandhiya, who squared the ball back to her inside the box for the Nepal international to score. Ratanbala Devi completed her hat-trick as well, with a little over 10 minutes of regulation time to go, as she finished off a pass from Sandhiya to make it 9-0 for Sethu FC.

In another match, after having lost 0-10 to Manipur Police, SAI-STC Cuttack looked to turn things around against Baroda Football Academy. They took the early initiative and played a swift passing game, often laying a siege on the Baroda penalty area.

Susmita hit a looping header over the the keeper’s head to score the first goal for SAI. Just three minutes later, Deepa Nayak struck another to double the lead. Niketa Bishi and Rashmi Jee added two more in the last 10 minutes.