by Suman Gupta
Mumbai, June 14: Bhagyashree Dalvi’s superb lone strike enabled Maharashtra girls emerge champions in the OORJA – CAPFs Under-19 Football Talent Hunt 2017(Phase-II) Tournament and played at Ahmedabad on Wednesday.
In an evenly contested final, the junior international footballer Bhagyashree gave Maharashtra the breakthrough when she found the back of the net inside the final 10 minutes of the first half.
Thereafter, Maharashtra with some resolute defending kept the Goan attackers in check and managed to hang on to their slender lead to come out trumps.
Earlier in the semi-finals, Maharashtra girls brushed aside the challenge from hosts Gujarat coasting to a 5-2 victory. The feature of Maharashtra’s win was the twin strikes from Reetika Sahani, while Sonali Chemete, Naomi Fernandes and Aishwarya Gadekar added one each to complete the winning tally for Maharashtra. Ayushi Patel and Mansi Wakhariya scored a goal each for the home team.
In the other semi-final, Goa tamed Andaman & Nicobar 9-0.
Results – Girl’s (Final): Maharashtra 1 (Bhagyashree Dalvi) beat Goa 0.
Semi-finals: Maharashtra 5 (Reetika Sahani 2, Sonali Chemete, Naomi Fernandes, Aishwarya Gadekar) beat Gujarat 2 (Ayushi Patel, Mansi Wakhariya).
Goa beat 9-0.
