Ahmedabad : Gokulam Kerala defeated Kickstart FC Karnataka 5-0 in the Indian Women’s League final, and perhaps even a league played to their songs, to win the championship for the third season in a row. Gokulam Kerala’s ladies are the bar for women’s football in India, thanks to a dominant performance at the TransStadia that was as much a display of their skill as it was a statement of how far behind their opponents they are.
Any discussion of standards, however, must begin and finish with Sabitra Bhandari, the Nepalese striker without equal, who has surpassed any scoring record she did not previously hold in just one season. Bhandari, already the highest scorer in Hero IWL history, surpassed Bala Devi’s record for a single season in the semi finals, and in the final she extended it further (30), into a realm where it might be extremely difficult to overcome.
The method in which that initial aim was achieved should have served as a warning for everything that followed. Dangmei Grace glided past a stagnant Kickstart midfield to release Bhandari into space on the right side of the box in the fifth minute after Gokulam had taken control of possession from the outset. The threat of a goal was non-existent, not only because she was boxed in by a defender, but also because of the angle and distance.
When ‘Samba’ is on the ball, none of that matters, and she has demonstrated it yet again. Taking a shot from nearly the right corner of the box towards the far post. The frantic dive of Maibam Linthoingambi was in vain. Gokulam had taken the lead and never looked back.
It was then a question of who could outperform who within the Gokulam team. Sandhiya Ranganathan received a pass on the Gokulam right and drove into the box in the 22nd minute. She dummied inside, surprising Linthoi, who was expecting a cutback, before smashing through at the near post to increase her team’s lead. Gokulam had a two-goal lead by the time Kickstart had their first chance on goal. Soon after, an unfortunate handball in the box gave Gokulam a penalty. Indumathi Kathiresan made no mistakes.
Karnataka went into the break down by three goals, their morale and egos arguably damaged more than anything else. They were the team with an almost unbreakable defence — their six clean sheets the most by any team in the league. And yet, against the irresistible force of Gokulam they had conceded as many goals in 45 minutes as they had in the eight games prior.
Karnataka came out for the second half, renewed, and even registered a first shot on target via a Wangkhem Linthoigambi pile driver in the 47th minute. Five minutes after though, Gokulam scored again, and again Bhandari was at the centre of the action. The striker collected the ball on the left side of the Kickstart box, feinted to go one way and with a swift turn of the hips went in another, leaving Dalima Chhibber in her wake. Her cross was perfect, and Sandhiya rose to head it in.
The game had become a procession — attack vs defence — well before the fourth, but from thereon, all pretence of a contest faded away. Roja Devi added a fifth in the 80th minute, as Gokulam romped to a third title in three seasons.
