Eastern Sporting Union were crowned champions of the inaugural edition of the Indian Women's league at the Ambedkar Stadium here on Tuesday as the Bembem Devi led side defeated Rising Student's Club 3-0 to bag the coveted trophy.
Strikes from Kamala Devi (32', 66') and Prameshwori Devi (57') led Eastern Sporting Union to an easy win over their opponents, in a final, which was largely dominated by ESU.
Although both teams tried to score the early goal to take an advantage going through the match, Eastern Sporting Union pressed onwards in the opening minutes with almost every move. Kamala tried to catch the opposition custodian off guard with a cheeky touch in the third minute but lacking venom her shot was easily saved.
In the 24th minute, Prameshwori's cross almost ended in the back of the net, leaving the opposition custodian wrong-footed. However, the cross floated over the net as Rising Student survived another attack. It was a different scenario altogether in the 32nd minute as Eastern Union scored to take the lead when Kamala tapped home her 10th goal of the IWl campaign from a Prameshowri cross from the right flank to give ESU a solitary goal advantage heading into the half-time.
little did ESU had to wait for their second goal and in the 57th minute, Prameshwori played a one-two with Kashmina and scored from a narrow angle to make the scoreline read 2-0.
The second goal knocked the stuffing out of Rising Student's Club and with low morale, they struggled to keep pace with Eastern Sporting Union. ESU however pressed to take an unassailable three-goal lead and put the tie to bed. And in the 66th minute Kamala Devi did just that. The fleet-footed forward burst in the opposition box and blasted the ball into the back of the net to make it 3-0.