Team Herald

MAPUSA: SCC Cavelossim SOWS will lock horns with Panjim Dolphins in the final of the Vedanta Women's Football League, organised by Goa Football Association played at Duler Stadium, Mapusa, on Wednesday.

In the second leg semi-finals, Panjim Dolphins edged past Albert Princesses 2-1. Panjim Dolphins started the game on an attacking note and were close to scoring as Karishma Shirvoikar found her low shot get cleared by Leena Gaunco on the goal-line.

On the other side, Jozima Fernandes should have added one for the Albert side as she was in a one-on-one situation but the Panjim keeper came out to save the goal bound shot.

On the counter attack, Karishma Shirvoikar scored the first goal of the day for Panjim Dolphins as she had an impressive run into the box from the midfield and placed her easy strike into the back of the nets to give her team an early 1-0 lead.

Five minutes later, Alisha Tavares lobbed the ball over to Karishma in the box but the latter found her shot get cleared by the Albert defence.

For Albert Princesses, Marlat Cardozo tapped the ball to Jozima but her pass was well caught by the Panjim keeper.

Albert Princesses pulled one down courtesy to Anushka Castro who netted the ball in off Scindia Saundatikar's free-kick to level things up.

Panjim Dolphins added another through Linda Calada who tried her luck from outside the box and was successful as the Albert keeper Annette Da Costa had no reach of her shot.

Moving over, the Albert side gave the capital team a tough time as they tried to push in through Marlat Cardozo and Jozima Fernandes. In the 43rd minute, Scindia’s free-kick was well headed by Marlat but Jozima failed to tap the ball in.

Karishma Shirvoikar tried another attempt as she ran in the box but the substitute keeper came off with a brilliant save.

In the 59th minute Panjim Dolphins Karishma Shirvoikar lobbed the ball over to Chelsea Crasto who was completely unmarked but her shot was high from target which amused much of the audience.

In the dying minutes of the game, Panjim tried to add one more through Karishma but her shot missed the target by few inches. But nothing changed the final score as Panjim marched on into the finals.

Earlier during the day, SCC Cavelossim SOWS scored a narrow 1-0 win over Flaming Oranje in the second leg of the semi-finals.

SCC Cavelossim SOWS began the game on a positive note as they had a one goal lead over the opponents. SOWS came out with some potent chances but failed to convert. Nevilla Colaço had a brilliant chance to score off a free-kick but her low shot was cleared by the Oranje defence. Sushmita Jadhav was good with the ball but she failed to score. On the other side, Karina Kankonkar found her shot go wide for the Flaming side. Both teams went into the half goalless.

Moving over, SOWS came out with two good opportunities. First through Sushmita whose shot was well caught by the keeper and then through Nevilla who placed her shot high above the target.

Ten minutes into the second half, SOWS Sushmita had an impressive run into the box but found her strike well cleared by the defender Stessi Cardozo. The next minutes saw the Flaming defence drop low as Sushmita Jadhav and Jeromina Colaço displayed good passing but failed to finish. Namita Govekar came close to scoring for SOWS but her low shot was well in reach by the Flaming keeper Ashika Gadekar.

The game then was restricted to midfield play with the Cavelossim side dominating possession. The best chance for SCC SOWS came in the 67th minute as Nevilla chipped the ball over to Jeromina who was in a one-on-one situation with just the keeper to beat but her shot was well caught by the keeper. In the next minute, Sujita Murgaokar's long ball was out of reach to the keeper as it swiftly landed in the nets to give her team a 1-0 lead in the second leg of the semis and eventually a final berth.