India Rush – Winning hearts by defying odd

by Chittu Shetty October 3, 2017

Before the tournament began, Bodyline and Football Leaders Academy were the two sides that seemed to be favourites, but then came in ‘Rush Soccer’ defying odds and winning the league through sheer determination.

The intent was there from the very first game when PIFA sports faced the brunt of India Rush’s menacing strike force. Player of the Tournament and second top scorer, Nisha Singh (11 Goals) had an able compatriot in wingers Deepika Singh and Jyoti Kumar. In the first three games of the tournament, Rush’s strike force was already in full power scoring 14 goals with Nisha scoring 7 and Deepika scoring 4 of those.

While the strike force made its reputation, the defence was rock solid too. Led by skipper Banita Singh between the sticks and central defender pair of Ravina Yadav and Danika Coelho, Rush Soccer conceded just nine goals throughout the tournament. There was a hunger and determination among the players and that stood out in the end, Kimberly – Manager of Rush Soccer, said while speaking to FootballCounter.com, “We came here to win but we also won the title with one game in hand and the credit for that goes to all the players.”

In the penultimate game of the tournament, Rush Soccer faced a strong Bodyline in what was a crucial deciding game with a win confirming the title with a game in hand.  In an evenly contested game, Deepika produced one of the best goals of the tournament which propelled Rush a crucial lead with Deepika herself claiming, “My today’s goal will be one of my favourites from a very long time.” In the second half, Nisha who was doubtful before the match due to her illness scored the second goal to put the game to bed and give Rush the title.

George Lawrence, Coach of Rush Soccer was very happy with the result, “It is a tremendous shocker for me that we won the title. I am very proud of the girls we came from zero to become the champions of the Indian Women League Preliminary Round.” He was full praise for top scorer Nisha Singh, “She has been tremendous for us, won us games from the dead and I believe India Rush Soccer will keep her for a long time now.” Team Manager Kimberly also received a word of praise from Head Coach Lawrence, “Kimberly is an amazing coach. We promoted her to be the technical director for the girls. She has been a great companion and a great friend”

With the preliminary title under the belt, Rush Soccer will now head to Kolhapur, where they will be the face of Maharashtra in the second preliminary round, a qualification in which will give them a spot in final six teams for the IWL title.