KOLKATA: East Bengal girls became champions in the inaugural IFA Women’s Shield, brushing aside Sreebhumi Football FC 5-0 in the summit clash, held at the Tehatta ground in Nadia district on Friday.
Tulsi Hembram was the start of the final, scoring four of the five goals. Barnali Karar was the other scorer for East Bengal.
East Bengal women’s team — known as Moshal Girls — clinched the deal with a perfect record and without conceding a single goal in this six-team tournament. They scored 27 goals in the process, also the most by a team in the tournament.
This was East Bengal girls’ second trophy of the season. They had earlier won the Calcutta Women’s Football League, known as the Kanyashree Cup.
They also made it to the knockout stage of the Indian Women’s League after debuting in the national tournament, held in Ahmedabad.
In the Women’s Shield final at Tehatta, East Bengal took control of the proceedings right at the outset and Tulsi duly put them ahead in the 13th minute.
Barnali extended the lead 5 minutes later as East Bengal went into the break with a comfortable 2-0 lead.
While Sreebhumi players struggled with a lack of cohesion and cutting edge in the attacking third, East Bengal continued to dominate and were more clinical.
Tulsi then stole the show with her imperious scoring prowess and netted the remaining three goals in 47, 77 and 82 minutes.
For Tulsi — who hails from Jangal Mahal — this was her third hat-trick in four matches. She ended the tournament with 15 goals and was deservedly adjudged as the player of the final as well as the tournament.
