S.P. Football Academy keep brilliant Body Line SC at bay in the MDFA Women’s League

by Kaushal Shukla February 19, 2015

Body Line Sports Club were held to a 0-0 draw by S.P. Football Academy in the MDFA (Mumbai District Football Association) Women’s League game held at the Karnataka Sporting Association ground at Churchgate on 19th February 2015. Body Line would be ruing missed chances as they failed to close the gap between them and their opponents.

S.P. Academy came into the game with a 100% win record, winning all four of their games. Body Line on the other hand too were unbeaten going into this game having won two games and drawn one. It was important for Body Line to win the game and close the gap on S.P. Academy.

They started the game with exactly that in mind as Body Line SC’s Kimberly Fernandes produced the first attempt of the game with a neat shot which stung the palms of S.P. Academy goalkeeper Riya Tank in the 2nd minute, who collected calmly.

Body Line SC seized the initiative in the opening exchanges as they controlled most of the ball and put S.P. Academy under considerable amount of pressure. In the 11th minute, the pressure nearly paid off when Rita Ukachukwa’s powerful strike went inches off the right hand side post.

Body Line SC continued to dominate proceedings as the game neared the interval. S.P. Academy’s first opening came in the 20th minute when Body Line’s goalkeeper Kimberly Miranda did well to clear the danger after she came charging out of the box to get to the ball ahead of the S.P Academy offender.

The game remained deadlocked at half time, but Body Line were very much the better of the two sides at the break.
Body Line came storming out in the second half, pushing S.P. Academy deep inside their own box and won a series of corners. The Body Line bench was left bemused after the referee turned down two penalty shouts in space of as many minutes.

Body Line were denied by Riya Tank’s toes in the 24th minute when Prajakta’s goal bound shot was deflected wide by the S.P. Academy’s goalkeeper. The touch also evaded the other Body Line forwards who were lining up to put away any rebounds.

S.P. Academy earned some breathing space as they won a free kick in a good position in the 29th minute and their star player Abeer Irsawala was over it. But she filed to make good use of it as she fired it straight to the keeper.

As the game approached its final minutes, S.P. Academy seemed to have weathered the storm early in the second half. But there was to be yet another scare in the 37th minute when substitute Amisha Phasutkar failed to make a telling connection to a corner as her attempt from close range was cleared off the line.

Body Line players were tired by the last minutes of the game allowing S.P. Academy to have a strong finish to the game. But the game ended goalless and S.P Academy managed to eake out a point in a game where they were clearly second best.

Body Line SC would be disappointed that they failed to grab all three points which were very much in their grasp. The draw meant Body Line remained two points behind Companeroes who won earlier in the day and five points behind leaders S.P Academy who had played an extra game.

It was a good point for S.P. Academy as they earned it on a bad day and that is the biggest sign of a champion team.