Orissa win maiden title in Senior Women NFC

Last year`s runners-up Orissa won their maiden title in the Senior Women`s National Football Championship by retaining their unassaible 5-0 lead in the last five minutes of the unfinished final match against three-time champions West Bengal at Pant Stadium in Bhilai today.

The one-sided match remained unfinished earlier yesterday due to incessant rain, which caused three interruptions. Sasmita Mallick lived up to her reputation as the best striker of the country by scoring a brace, while former India captain Sradhanjali Samantaray, Pinky Bompal Magar and Jabamani Soren contributed one goal each.

This was the biggest margin of defeat suffered by any team in the final of the championship, surpassing Bengal`s 0-4 loss to Manipur in the second edition of the tournament in 1992-93. But in the current and 19 edition, Manipur crashed out in the semifinals, losing to West Bengal 6-7 via tie-breaker.

Incidentally, before their clash in the final, Orissa had trounced West Bengal 4-0 in the quarterfinal league. Orissa earlier reached the final thrice in 2002, 2008 and 2010, but ended up runners-up, losing to Manipur on all three occasions. With the NFC title, Orissa completed a glorious double following their gold medal triumph in National Games at Jamshedpur earlier this year.

Led by defender Alochana Senapati, Orissa asserted complete dominance the latest edition of the National championship, slamming a total 52 goals in seven matches and conceding just one. In the cluster league, they trounced both Mizoram and Madhya Pradesh by 11-0 identical margin to storm into the quarterfinals, where they continued their scoring spree by routing Kerala 13-0, Haryana 4-0 and Bengal by identical scoreline. In the semifinals, Orissa thrashed Goa 4-1.

Among the Orissa scorers, Sasmita Mallick led the list with 14 goals. She was followed by Pinky Bompal Magar (13), Sradhanjali Samantaray and Supriya Rout (9 each), Jabamani Soren (3), Gayatri Mallick (2), Manisha Panna and Gomati Bara (1 each).

Football Association of Orissa (FAO) secretary Sanjay Behera described the title triumph as a proud moment for the state and thanked the team members for taking the game to a new height. He also announced a cash award of Rs 2.2 lakhs for the 22-member Orissa squad, which included 20 players, coach Chitrasen Patra and manager Sangita Sharma.

ORISSA TEAM:

Goalkeepers: Swarnamayee Samal (Cuttack), Sita Sharma (Rourkela).
Defenders: Alochana Senapati, Suprava Samal, Bijaylaxmi Sahoo (all Bhubaneswar); Rashmita Patra, Renuka Mallick, Madhusmita Barik (all Kendrapara).
Mid-fielders: Sradhanjali Samantaray (Bhubaneswar), Gayatri Mallick (Kendrapara), Lochana Munda (Sambalpur), Manisha Pana (Sundargarh), Supriya Routray (Cuttack), Gomati Bara (Jharsuguda).
Forwards: Sasmita Mallick, Jabamani Soren, Sangeeta Patra (all Bhubaneswar); Pinky Bompal Magar (Jharsuguda), Pratima Minz (Sundargarh), Deogi Murmu (Mayurbhanj). Coach: Chitrasen Patra; Manager: Sangeeta Sharma.
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PHOTO: National champion Orissa senior women team on its return home at Cuttack on May 19, 2011.