Ratanbala strikes twice to help Kryphsa stun defending champions Sethu

by Chittu Shetty January 28, 2020

Kryphsa FC registered a stunning 2-0 victory over defending champions Sethu FC in their Hero Indian Women’s League (IWL) group fixture at the Bangalore Football Stadium today (January 28, 2020).

Ratanbala Devi scored in either half to wrap up the three points, leaving the champions contemplating and wounded. Sethu, however, had the better of the exchanges in the nascent stages but Kryphsa slowly caught up with the tempo. There wasn’t much to differentiate between the two sides in terms of possession.

Ashalata Devi led by example, as the Sethu skipper thwarted danger on multiple occasions, most notably from Dangmei Grace’s mazy run, which was well-read by the veteran time and again.

Speaking of Grace, the Kryphsa skipper deserves credit for making the starting eleven, after having picked up a horrendous injury during the Hero IWL opener, following a nasty collision with Kickstart FC goalkeeper Rashmi Kumari.

The game seemed to be headed towards half-time goalless, but Grace had other ideas. In the second minute of first-half stoppage time, the Indian international disposed Sethu’s Sumithra in the middle of the park and fed a lurking Ratanbala Devi with a quick through ball.

Ashalata Devi recovered on time and had closed down Ratanbala, but the latter exquisitely placed her effort to the keeper’s bottom left, from outside the box.

Sethu came out all guns blazing in the second half but the wind in their sails was subdued at the hour mark. Kryphsha FC pulled off a textbook training ground free-kick from just outside the box. With two volunteers, Anju Tamang and Ratanbala Devi at the end of it, the former feinted her attempt, which prompted the Sethu wall to commit, leaving Ratanbala with a clear sight on goal, and clinical as ever, she made no mistake.

With some fine defensive solidarity, Krypsha saw out the remainder of the game and now look like the team to beat, having scored six in two games, conceding none.

For stats, timeline, pictures on this game, visit here—> Match Center

For fixtures, group standings, feature articles, match reports and tournament stats on Hero IWL, visit here–> Hero Indian Women League

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