Three wins in a row, but Koshi yet to face their biggest challenges

Kathmandu, Sept. 9: Koshi Province squad arrived in Kathmandu for the ANFA Women’s League 2081 with a five-day training together since the players departed their ways after returning as the champions of the League Qualifiers in Surkhet in April.

However, despite not being together, the players were still actively playing football, even locally, throughout the three-month gap between the Qualifiers and the League. Yet, the team has had the best start to the League compared to the other nine teams, including the three departmental teams. 

And on Sunday, the easternmost province of the country registered their third win in a row in the League after defeating Karnali Province 4-0. It was Koshi’s second clean sheet in three matches.

By Sunday evening and the end of the League for the day, Koshi tops the table with nine points in three matches. Nepal Police Club, with a win against Bagmati Youth Club in the final match on Sunday, follows Koshi with seven points in three matches; Police played a goalless draw against defending champions APF in the duo’s first match of the season.

Moreover, Koshi is on a high as they have been scoring a worrying number of goals for the opponent. Karnali suffered a four-nil defeat against Koshi in the first of the two matches on Sunday. Purnima Rai’s two goals (34 and 71), Samikshya Rai (66) and Pratikshya Rai (71) were the scorers.

Koshi also kicked off their League campaign with a 4-0 win over Waling Municipality. They could not keep a clean sheet against Bagmati Youth Club (BYC) in Round 2 as the match ended 2-1. 

Nepal Police, winners of the League for four consecutive seasons from 2012 to 2016, could only score one goal past Bagmati. BYC, with a 5-1 win against Sudurpashchim in Round 1, cannot be kept away from the favourites in the race for Top 5 in Phase 1 of the League. The Top 5 after a single round-robin format will play a double round-robin format League, probably in 2025, for the Championship.

Nevertheless, Koshi, which is in the top currently, has a bigger challenge ahead if it plans to move ahead to Phase 2 of the League; meaning, they have not yet faced a departmental club.

And their first of the three challenges starts in the next round. Koshi plays the first match of Round 4 with Nepal Police Club in the first of the two matches on September 11. Nepal Police, with a 9-0 defeat against Sudurpashchim on September 6, have shown they are here for the League Cup. 

Koshi face Sankata FC in Round 5 on September 14 but, in Round 6 and 7, they will face Tribhuvan Army and APF Club on September 17 and 20 respectively. On the other hand, Koshi’s three aces are yet to arrive; and they are most likely to be available for the last two matches against the departmental teams. Koshi’s Khusma Rai, Sushila Chaudhary and Jennifer Rana Magar will return soon after completing a tournament in India. 

The players went for the tournament in India as the ANFA Women’s League was still uncertain; the delay in certainty of the League allowed Koshi to allocate a five-day closed camp in Dharan before the League. 

Waling Municipality vs Sankata FC and Chandrapur Municipality vs APF Club are the two matches being played at Lalitpur’s ANFA Complex Ground on Monday.