Sribhumi FC 2 (Karishma Shirvoikar 50’, 87’)
lost to
Sethu FC 4 (Lynda Kom Serto 10’, 18’, 90+5’ p, Abigail Antwi 46’)

AIFF Media Team

KALYANI: They huffed and they puffed, but Sethu FC finally managed to stumble over the finish line, defeating Sribhumi FC 4-2 in their Indian Women’s League 2025-26 match at the Kalyani Stadium in Kalyani, West Bengal, on Tuesday, December 30, 2025.

Lynda Kom Serto (10’, 18’, 90+5’) scored a hat-trick for Sethu, while Abigail Antwi (46’) netted one. Karishma Purushottam Shirvoikar (50’, 87’) netted two for Sribhumi.

Sethu, with this result, provisionally climb to the second spot on the IWL table with seven points from four matches, while Sribhumi, who suffered their first defeat of the campaign, drop to third with six points from three games.

The side from Madurai came into the game needing a win, after picking up a solitary point from their last two matches against East Bengal (0-1) and Gokulam Kerala FC (1-1), and were at Sribhumi’s throats immediately.

Sribhumi goalkeeper was called into action from the very start, keeping early shots away from Lynda Kom and Kavya Pakkirisamy in the opening exchanges. However, the Sreebhumi custodian was caught out of possession in the 10th minute, trying to deal with a cross from Malavika P, as Lynda Kom tapped it in at the near post.

Minutes later, Lynda Kom had Monalisha stranded flatfooted with her shot from long range, though the crossbar came to the rescue of the Sribhumi custodian.

The early Sethu chances jolted Sribhumi into action as they went in search of the equaliser. Sibani Devi cut inside from the right and fed Anju Tamang down the channel. The latter fizzed in a cross from the right, which was put wide by Grace Dangmei.

Lynda Kom doubled Sethu’s lead in the 18th minute. Babina Devi Lisham played a clever through ball to Kaviya on the left, who produced a cut-back for Lynda to score at the near post.

Two goals down and desperate not to suffer their first defeat, Sribhumi kept piling the pressure on Sethu. Anju Chanu tested Sethu goalkeeper Anjila Subba with a 32nd-minute long-range effort, but the Nepal international managed to tip it over. Moments later, Mamta sent a dangerous cross into the Sethu box, but it was just wide on an onrushing Bala Devi’s head.

Lynda Kom could have completed her hat-trick in first-half injury time, when Kaviya set her through with an aerial through ball, but she sent her effort wide.

Sethu came out with a gallop after the change of ends and went 3-0 up in the 46th minute, when Kaviya’s cross from the left found Lynda Kom, who cushioned her header into the path of Ghanaian forward Abigail Antwi to finish from close range.

Despite the large deficit, Sribhumi were not willing to throw in the towel and pulled one back in the 50th when Sibani, charging down the right, cut one back for Anju Tamang, whose shot was saved on the line. However, it fell kindly for substitute Karishma, who had replaced Bala at half-time, and the latter finished it with nobody guarding the goal.

In the 62nd minute, Anju Tamang laid one off for Rimpa Haldar at the edge of the area. The shot, however, went wide.

Sribhumi kept throwing bodies forward, but Sethu sat back and waited for opportunities to spring the counter. Malavika, in the 69th, hared into the box from the right and tried to set up Lynda Kom’s hat-trick, but the latter’s effort was blocked.

Sribhumi kept piling the pressure and could have drawn level with a flurry of chances in the closing stages. Rimpa was fouled just outside the box in the 85th minute. Substitute Yumnam Kamala Devi did well to hit the target with a curling free-kick, but Anjila was upto the task and made the save.

A minute later, Anju Tamang dropped deep to draw her marker, and on the turn, chipped a ball through to Karishma, who dinked it over Anjila to score her second of the game. It was all frantic from hereon.

Rimpa sent in a cross from the right with two minutes of regulation time left to find Sibani at the far post, who shot agonisingly wide.

Sethu used Lynda Kom as the focal point of their counterattacks as Sribhumi pressed on. She broke down the right in injury time, dribbled past her marker, only to have her shot saved by Monalisha. While the rebound fell kindly for her, the Sribhumi goalkeeper produced a second save to keep her side in the match.

However, in the fifth minute of injury time, Lynda Kom, who had again broken free, this time on the left, was brought down and was awarded a golden opportunity to complete her hat-trick in the form of a penalty, which she dispatched to the back of the net without much fuss, as the referee blew the long whistle.