Captain Sunita keeps personal Tragedy aside, plays for Amma FC

 

 

SLUG: The Nagpur team lost their second match to Mumbai District champions Footie First 7-0

By Paritosh Pramanik

 

KEEPING her personal loss aside, Amma FC captain Sunita Yadav decided to play help her side against a strong rival in the ongoing Western India Football Association (WIFA) Women’s Football League, played at the Cooperage ground on Saturday. The league is a qualifying tournament for the AIFF Indian Women’s League (IWL).

Sunita woke up to tragic news of passing away of her grandfather. But the Amma FC captain decided to keep her personal loss aside and played team’s second match against Footie First. Her presence in the team was visible as Footie First FC were unable to breach the defence initially.

“I got the news of the passing away of my grandfather Radhuram Yadav (90 years) in the morning. I was shattered but we had the match to play immediately. Anyhow, I wouldn’t have managed to attend the funeral hence I decided to play the game,” said Sunita, who recently resigned from a PET job to play for Amma FC in the competition. Sunita returned to Nagpur in the evening and said she would decide whether to return back for the tournament, later.

Though Amma FC lost the match hands down by seven goals to nil, they managed to hold their opponents from scoring more heavily, like they had in their first 14-0 win over Pacangan FC, Satara.

Nagpur team played well for the first 18 minutes but an allegedly debatable foul on the edge of the box by Akansha Shelare forced referee Irfan Shaikh award a penalty to Footie First, Mumbai.

Their star striker Jyoti Chouhan made no mistake in slotting the ball home in the 19^th minute.

“The foul took place clearly out of the rectangle. It was really a harsh decision by the referee. That broke the tempo of our team,” coach Annie Paul told ‘The Hitavada’

That goal put Amma FC on the back foot and in the 33^rd minute hit the back of the net to double the net for the Mumbai District champion team.

Jyoti, who had slammed nine goals in their opening 14-0 win against Pacangan FC, Satara in the opener, scored two goals in the 38^th and 45^th minutes to complete her hat-trick and give Mumbai a 4-0 half-time cushion.

But despite Jyoti scoring a hat-trick, Amma FC defence tried their best to hold the prolific player and frustrated her at times over the defence line.

Jyoti was on the target once again in the 54^th minute and Mamta Kumari added another in the 81^st to make it difficult for Amma FC to make a comeback.

With hopes diminished Amma FC replaced goalkeeper Bhuneshwari Pendam with Stanzin Tsomo in the 84^th minute but Jyoti managed to squeak one past her, too, a minute before final whistle.

Coach Annie, despite her team losing heavily, was all praise for her side. “I know that it is a big loss but I am proud of the girls. They really played well. Once again, the lack of combined practice was visible. But they will bounce back in the next three games,” said Annie.

In another match, Mumbai district runners-up PIFA FC thrashed Pacangan FC, Satara 11-0. Sasmita Behera (2^nd, 27^th, 42^nd, 53^rd, 84^th), Marbarin Nongrum (24th, 50^th), Betsheba Kharsyntiew (63^rd, 88^th) and Renu Bala (35^th) scored the goals.

In the last match of the day, Kenkre FC, Mumbai thrashed Next Sports Academy, Palghar 9-1. Techi Kkung (8^th, 15^th, 19^th), Harshika Jain (43^rd), Ritika Goveas (12^th), Komal Badgujar (16^th), Kavya Jaiswal (80^th, (90+3), Nabam Kamyi (85^th) were the scorers for the winners. For Palghar, Purva Kamble (14^th) scored the consolation goal.

Amma FC take on mighty Footie First today

 

Principal Correspondent

 

WITH a convincing win in their opener, Amma FC, Nagpur would look to stunning formidable Footie First Football Club, Mumbai in their second league encounter of India Football League Qualifiers match of Maharashtra Zone’s Women’s Football League at Cooperage Ground in Mumbai on Saturday.

Their opener was a cakewalk against Next Sports Academy, Palghar whom they thrashed by five goals to nil on Thursday.

However, to keep their winning run intact, Nagpur girls, led by midfielder Sunita Yadav, will have to be on their toes for 90 minutes of play.

Footie First have recorded the biggest win of the tournament so far when they drubbed Pacangan Football Club, Satara 14-0 in their first outing.

The Mumbai Women’s League champions Footie First have a strong line-up with Jyoti leading from the front. The forward has scored nine goals in their opening encounter and would be eager to keep her good show going.

Amma FC defenders will have to be more vigil on the defence line.

Rakshanda Amle Kiran Jadhav, Nazah Mistry and Vinita Bhalavi will have to mark Jyoti along with Mamta Kumari, Priyanka Gurung and Amrapali Jadhav.

A lot would depend on Nagpur’s midfielders comprising Rakshanda Sonekar and captain Sunita to play as the link between the forward line and defence.

Coach Annie Paul had said that the team had missed bagful of chances in the opener which has irked her. “We could have won by a much bigger margin had we not missed sitters. This has to be changed in the coming matches,” Annie had told ‘The Hitavada’.

Nagpur will have to rectify their mistakes of missing out on easy chances in their first match. Forwards Annie Anthony, Cristal Gomes, Sonekar, Nikita Shende will have to grab the opportunities and try to take early lead.

It would be important for Amma FC to play a well combined game. Though they hardly had any combined practice in Nagpur due to coronavirus restrictions, they have played one match and had a good training session on Friday at the Cooperage ground. This would help them in adjusting themselves and prepare for a tough fight on Saturday.

“I am sure the players would give a tough fight to Footie First,” said Annie on Friday. “They should play without any pressure. This is only their second game and there are many more games to play,” she added.

Amma FC start with a bang

 

THRASH NEXT SPORTS ACADEMY, PALGHAR 5-0

 

By Paritosh Pramanik

 

THEY hardly had any combined practice sessions but still Amma Football Club girls eked out a superlative performance in their opening match of the Indian Women’s League (IWL) Qualifiers at Cooperage Ground, Maharshi Karve Road in Mumbai.

The Maharashtra Zone of Women’s Football League is organised by Western India Football Association (WIFA).

In their opening match, Amma FC thrashed Next Sports Academy by five goals to nil to start their campaign in the seven-team competition on a rousing note.

Substitute Nikita Shende shook the net twice while Nidhi Verma, Punam Kumari and Annie Anthony scored one each as Amma FC started with a bang.

“I am happy with the performance of the team but not satisfied with the result. They could have scored at least 5-6 more goals. They missed easy chances,” team coach Annie Paul told ‘The Hitavada.

With restrictions imposed in Nagpur last month, the players were unable to do combine practice. “We hardly had any combined practice due to restrictions in Nagpur. Had these girls got played together for a few sessions, the margin of victory would have been much bigger,” Annie added.

“This was our first match. We will do better as the tournament progresses,” she hoped.

Amma FC got off to a dream start when Nidhi Verma managed to break the Next Sports Academy, Palghar defence in the fourth minute to give her side a 1-0 lead on the artificial turf of Cooperage.

Striker Punam Kumari then showed good combination upfront and stretched the lead in the 17^th minute. Before changing ends, Annie Anthony put Amma FC in a comfortable position scoring the third goal in the 41^st.

Next Sports Academy, Palghar showed some courage in the second half and managed to hold the Sunita Yadav led Nagpur team to some extent with defenders Gauri Singh, Shivani Shivgan, Hardika Katkar and Juhi Mhatre guarding the wall.

However, Nikita Shende, who replaced Rakshanda Sonekar in the 55^th minute, found the gap in the defence and delivered twin blows to bury Palghar. Nikita first scored in the 79^th minute and then rounded it off five minutes before the final whistle to help Amma FC script a dream start.

Nagpur will play their second match on Saturday against Footie First Football Club.

Nagpur’s Amma FC girls to play in Mumbai’s WIFA Women’s league

 

To open their campaign against Next Sports Academy on April 1.

 

By Paritosh Pramanik

 LAST year, they could not manage to arrange a sponsor and had to miss out on an opportunity to play the prestigious competition.

However, Annie Paul, the women’s football coach of Nagpur, made it sure that this time there won’t be any shortage of funds. From getting a sponsor to conducting selection trials amidst restrictions and to training at different grounds, and doing fitness through Zoom platform, women footballers from Nagpur are set to kick-start their season with their participation in Indian Women’s League.

After almost a year without a game, eve footballers from Nagpur would be looking to forward to some on field competition.

Amma Football Club of the city will be taking part in the Western India Football Association (WIFA) organised Indian Women’s League (Women’s Football League) which begins at Cooperage ground in Mumbai from Thursday.

WIFA is the football governing body of Maharashtra with its headquarters in Mumbai.

Total seven teams from Mumbai, Satara, Palghar, Pune and Nagpur, namely, Footie First, Pacangan FC, India Rush SC, Kenkre FC, PIFA FC, Next Sports Academy and Amma FC are taking part in the round robin league tournament.

Amma FC will open their campaign against Next Sports Academy on April 1 at 10 am.

The finalists of the tournament will qualify for the India leg of the tournament which will be held later this year.

Annie, coach of the club said the team has a great chance to showcase their talent.

“This team stands good chance to qualify. Last year also we qualified by emerging as the best club in the (Nagpur) district but due to lack of funds, we were unable to send our team for the prestigious tournament,” Annie told ‘The Hitavada’.

“This year we managed to find sponsors for our team. It’s a long tournament which will be played for around 15 days. We have to arrange for our travel expenses as well as stay. This time we started preparing early and arranged enough funds,” a satisfied Annie said.

As last year women’s tournament could not take place in Nagpur due to COVID-19, Annie decided to hold selection trials this time. “Nagpur District Football Association (NDFA) could not hold competition last year. Winners of district tournament make it to the league. So we decided to conduct selection trials for girls at Central Railways Institute Ground in Ajni. We shortlisted players during the three-day trials and then conducted conditioning camp. But due to lockdown our training got hampered. For last couple of days we practised at Yashwant Stadium,” said Annie.

To keep players fit Annie conducted fitness classes through Zoom platform.

“We were unable to hold fitness training due to restrictions on physical training by the local authorities. Hence, we conducted fitness classes through Zoom. This helped players remain in shape,” added Annie.

Annie hoped that the team can win matches and qualify for the Indian league.

Most of the teams from other zones have already qualified. Only Maharashtra zone’s tournament is remaining. Our team is strong and I think they can qualify for the Indian Women’s League. This is a very big platform for women. It’s on the lines of Indian Super League. Players will definitely benefit from this meet,” she claimed.

Amma FC team: Goalkeepers: Stanzin Tsomo, Bhubneshwari Pendam. Defenders: H Yadav, Trupti Sakhre, Annie Anthony, Kiran Jadhav, Vinita Bhalavi, Rani Kadam, Akansha Shelare, Nazah Mistri. Midfielders: Cristal Gomes, Sunita Yadav, Muskan Upadhayay, Rakshanda Soneka. Forwards; Ria Pinto, Nidhi Verma, Punam Kumari, Nikita Shende, Sneha Uikey. Officials: Coaches: Annie Louis Paul, Daryl Samuel, Kunal Meshram, Peter Anthony. Managers: Roshni Khobragade, Priyanka Lanjewar.

Amma FC’s schedule:

Apr 1: vs Next Sports Academy (10 am)

Apr 3: vs Footie FC (10 am)

Apr 5: vs PIFA (3.30 pm)

Apr 7: vs Pacangan FC (7.30 am)

Apr 11: vs India Rush FC (3.30 pm)

Apr 13: vs Kenkre FC (7.30 am)