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16th September 2017, Mumbai: On Matchday 13th of WIFA Women’s League – Indian Women’s League (IWL) Preliminary Round, a total of two matches were held where high-flying Rush Soccer faced Football School of India, whereas, table-topper Football Leaders Academy locked horns with Bodyline SC at Cooperage Stadium on Saturday evening.
Rush Soccer vs Football School of India (FSI)
In the first match of the day, Rush Soccer had to dig deep as they clinched a 3-1 victory over Football School of India (FSI) after being down 1-0 at the break. The win moved Rush Soccer at the top of the table with 15 points in 7 matches as they leapfrogged Football Leaders Academy who only managed to draw against Bodyline SC.
Football School of India (FSI) started off brightly and looked like a far better team than their counterpart. FSI’s midfield dominated the match proceedings which ultimately led to the opening goal of the match. Amruta Gladys’ excellent goal from inside the box proved too good for Rush’s goalkeeper as FSI took a swift lead.
Rush did manage to come close to find the equalizer but FSI’s defender Vaishnavi stood firm and strong to clear and challenge out the danger. FSI went into the break with a one-goal advantage, but not for long as Rush completely changed the course of the match in the second-half.
The first fifteen minutes of the second-half saw Rush slowly taking over the control of the match. After few misses for Nisha Singh, Jyoti Kumar, Rush finally equalized midway into the second-half. Deepika Singh scored a sublime goal to level the score.
Moments later, Deepika Singh danced past couple of defenders before placing her effort into the back of the net to give Rush a 2-1 lead. With the time running out, a superb counter-attack by Rush saw Nisha Singh scoring a scorcher of a goal when she lobbed over the goalkeeper to wrap up the game with all three points.
Bodyline SC vs Football Leaders Academy (FLA)
The second match of the day proved out to be a thrilling contest between two of the best sides of the Tournament. After taking the lead twice in the game, Bodyline SC had to salvage a point when a spectacular second-half display from FLA earned them a 2-2 draw at Cooperage Stadium.
Bodyline SC had a dream start when inside the first five minutes, midfielder Aditi Shetty unleashed a powerful strike which was initially saved by the goalkeeper but it somehow slipped and crossed the goal-line. A very unfortunate way to concede a goal.
But midway into the first-half, Football Leaders Academy (FLA) finally leveled the score when a bullet header from Reshmi Kumari gave FLA a ray of hope to maintain their position at the top of the table. Moments after Reshmi scored, Bodyline SC were awarded a penalty on the other end.
Kimberley Fernandez stepped up and restored the parity with a fine penalty and help Bodyline SC go into the break with a 2-1 lead.
The second-half was completely dominated by FLA who were looking to find the equalizer. The introduction of Tara Singh in the first-half proved beneficial for FLA as she created havoc for Bodyline’s backline.
Along with Tara, striker Archana Thakur, and Reshmi caused serious problems to Bodyline as the trio came agonizingly close to level the score. The pressure finally paid off when Tara Singh found Reshmi across the empty goal who made it 2-2 in the dying minutes.
FLA could have won the game but two late fantastic saves by Bodyline’s goalkeeper Shreeya Yadav helped Bodyline to salvage a draw against an in-form FLA side.
