Bangladesh U-15s thru’ to SAFF final

Bangladesh made it through to the SAFF U-15 Women’s Championship final, beating Nepal 2-1 at the Changlimithang Stadium in Thimphu, Bhutan today.

First half goals from Ripa Akter and Shamsunnahar sealed the victory for Bangladesh. Ripa picked up a the ball near the centre circle following some sharp passes in midfield and slalomed her way into the box, dribbling past three players with ease before finishing calmly with a right-footed shot to open the scoring for Bangladesh in the 12th minute.

Bangladesh kept on creating chances and the pressure told as Nepal defender Pratiksha Chaudhary handled the ball inside the box and conceded a penalty. Shamsunnahar stepped up and converted the penalty in the 25th minute to double Bangladesh’s lead.

The second half saw Bangladesh start promisingly but Nepal clawed their way back into the game after forward Amisha Karki collected a loose ball outside the area and chipped it over the goalkeeper to reduce the margin in the 64th minute. Bangladesh held on to their one-goal advantage to win the match.

The girls in red and green got off to a fine start in the regional age-group tournament by handing a 2-0 defeat to hosts Bhutan and needed an outright win against Nepal today to ensure a place in the final.

Bangladesh have two wins from two matches and will face India on October 13 in their last group fixture before playing the final on October 15.