Sturdy Assam, wobbly Nagaland enter Under-17 Girls semis

Kiyang Kasiya Memorial Tribal School from Assam sailed into the under-17 girls semifinals in the 55th edition of Subroto Cup tootball tournament while Nagaland's Charity School had to come through a penalty shootout to book their berth.
The Assam outfit won 3-0 against Telangana State Sports Hostel at the NWC ground while the Nagaland squad shot out Tripura Sports Hostel, also by the same margin, at the Dr Ambedkar Stadium.
The winners will play each other in the semifinals on Wednesday to join the Haryana girls in the final, to be played two days later. Haryana finished their engagement last week.

In fact, both the quarterfinals were played in contrasting styles as the Assam school did not have to sweat it out against the hapless Telangana Sports Hostel. The newly-formed state, making their maiden appearance, here were absolutely clueless against a seasoned Assam team.
There were enough indications of that as the Tribal School girls, who were fleet-footed, opened the account within five minutes of start when Takshi struck, wading through a tight Telangana defence. As if this was not enough, Panchami added one more 33 minutes later to further consolidate their position. But the final nail was driven into the Telangana coffin when Takshi completed a brace with a neat goal in the 45th minute.

All through the quarterfinal match, the Telangana girls were searching for the ball and even when they had the possession failed to keep with them or make neat passes. Taking advantage of their follies, the Assam girls made easy forays and never returned to the centerline without finishing the job.
In contrast, the Charity School and the Tripura Hostel girls struggled throughout to make things happen. Even when chances were presented, none of the teams was able to make deep inroads which could result in goals.
The Tripura girls missed their first three penalties as Babita, Shibani and Rubina failed to hit the target. On the other hand, Nagaland made no mistakes and cleanly converted from the spot through Netchutvo U, Nhashknovo, Vizovonvo.