Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) Women scripted a magnificent 5-2 comeback victory over Odisha Police in their Indian Women League (IWL) fixture at the Capital High School Ground in Bhubaneswar today. The defeat was the eighth for Odisha Women League (OWL) champions Odisha Police.

The local side took an early lead in the game after some confusion between the SSB Women defenders resulted in Suman Pragnya Mohapatra going one-on-one against the goalkeeper. Suman no mistake to put the ball past Manju and give her side the lead.

However, SSB Women skipper Dular Marandi had a day to remember and pulled one back in the 27th minute. Her scuffed shot ended up in the bottom left corner of the goal. She went on to score the second in the 37th minute with a perfectly-timed header from inside the box after SSB Women won a free-kick in a dangerous area.

Naorem Sumila Chanu made it 3-1 just before half-time as she was left unmarked by the Odisha Police defenders on the left flank. The local side took an early lead in the game but the team from West Bengal bounced back hard and dominated the proceedings.

After switching sides, Dular Marandi completed her hat-trick by scoring the fourth goal for her side in the 57th minute. Minutes later, Dular once again got onto the scoresheet, this time from a very difficult angle.

With the score 5-1, SSB Women had all but confirmed the three points for themselves and killed time to frustrate the opponents. Odisha Police, however, fought back to score another in the dying seconds of the game. A goalbound cross from the right flank by Lochana Munda was too hot to handle for the SSB Women goalkeeper and she spilled it into her own net.

Nevertheless, the referee blew the full-time whistle immediately after and SSB Women took home the three points.
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PHOTO: SSB Women FC captain Dular Marandi in action during their IWL match against Odisha Police in Bhubaneswar on 21 May 2022.