Sr Nationals: Goa women qualify for final round with all-win record

Panaji: Goa survived some nervy moments towards the end after Sushmita Jadhav was sent off in the 77th minute but did enough to pip Gujarat 1-0 and qualify for the final round of the 30th Senior Women’s National Football Championship for the Rajmata Jijabai Trophy.

After a barren first half, Karishma P Shirvoikar struck in the 66th minute. A cross from the left flank was poorly dealt by the Gujarat keeper and the Goa striker capitalised for the only goal of the match.

Goa were cruising along well, even creating more chances, but the sending off of Sushmita left them with a player short. Gujarat pushed more players forward, but the visitors navigated the challenge to top the group and qualify for the final round in Chhattisgarh next month.

Goa won all three qualifying games at the MK Bhavnagar University football ground, starting with a 6-0 rout of Madhya Pradesh, thanks to four goals from Pushpa Parab. Karishma and Fatima Braganza also scored.

In the second match, a brace from Karishma, besides goals from Pushpa and Sushmita were enough for Goa to defeat Maharashtra 4-1.

Goa topped the group with nine points from three games and made it to the final round where they will be joined by three other group winners -- Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, and one from Tamil Nadu/Kerala/Puducherry -- besides last year’s finalists, Odisha.

Goa will face West Bengal in the opening game at Narainpur, Chhattisgarh, on October 1.

The Goa Football Association has announced a Rs 1 lakh cash reward for the team.

“This team has done really well with Alfred (Fernandes) as coach,” said GFA president Caitano Fernandes. “I congratulate the entire team. The focus is now on the final round where we will face greater challenges. I am confident because the team has proved in the qualifiers that we can be as good as anyone else. We now have some time for preparations and the GFA will do everything possible to ensure that they are in good shape for the final round.”

Coach Alfred is expected to bring in reinforcements for the final round.

“This team can definitely get better,” said Alfred. “We had just 10 days of preparations, but the overall performance was good. I am now pinning my hopes on the India players (Pearl Fernandes and Valaina Fernandes) who will be included for the final phase. We need a stronger bench.”