FC Kolhapur City registered their first Indian Women’s League victory after overcoming Baroda Football Academy 2-0 at the Bangalore Football Stadium on Monday.

Lhingneilam Kipgen opened Kolhapur’s account on the 24th minute before Subhadra Sahu put them in cruise control on the 70th-minute mark.

The win might have arrived a little too late, with Kolhapur mathematically out for a semi-final place but Baroda had everything to play for and a win would have still kept them in contention.

Their IWL dreams were dashed, however, with the first blow arriving in the 24th minute. Kipgen capitalised on a defensive miscue and latched onto a loose ball. With a flurry of Baroda legs closing her down, she got her shot away just in time and clinically to the keeper’s right, giving Afshan Ashiq very little chance.

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Subhadra Sahu sealed the deal in the second half as she showed great instinct to react first to a rebound and followed up to double the advantage for her team.

Baroda did little to monument a comeback as Kolhapur held on for the win. Both teams swap places in the Group A standings, with the winners rising to fourth with as many points, while Baroda dropped a place below to fifth.

Going into the final group stage fixture, either side will be out of contention for a place in the semi-final but will certainly have pride to play for.

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In another match, Kenkre FC moved a step closer towards rubberstamping their place in the semi-finals of the fourth edition of IWL by registering a 3-1 victory over West Bengal’s Sreebhumi FC.

Kenkre skipper Soumya Guguloth scored a brace before Aarti pulled one back for Sreebhumi to make it anyone’s game. Asha Kumari added a third early in the second half for Kenkre and allowed them to sail on the two-goal cushion towards three points.

Sreebhumi, who are now mathematically out of the race for a place in the IWL semis, needed to win this fixture to keep their hopes alive.