Last-gasp goal downs hosts

Bangladesh's bid to regain the title of SAFF U-15 Women's Championship became a bit difficult after they suffered a 1-0 defeat against Nepal at the Birshreshtha Shaheed Mostafa Kamal Stadium in Kamalapur yesterday.

The hosts conceded the goal in the 87th minute of the match, against the run of play, when Nepalese centre-forward Barsha Oli placed the ball into the net past the onrushing Bangladesh goalkeeper Sangita Rani Das on a long free-kick from Bhabna Pariyar.

The goal came in the dying stages of an otherwise uninspiring affair, which the hosts had dominated in terms of possession and attack.

The result sends the Nepalese to the top of the three-team table with six points, with Bangladesh on three and Bhutan yet to open their account. Both Bangladesh and Nepal had won their opening matches against Bhutan by big margin – Bangladesh registering an 8-0 win and Nepal winning 7-0.

Bangladesh will play against Bhutan tomorrow while Nepal will take on their neighbours on November 9 before the two title-aspirants -- Bangladesh and Nepal meet again in the last match of the league on November 11.

Bangladesh coach Golam Rabbani Choton, who recently guided the senior women's team to their first SAFF title, isn't giving up hope as yet.

"We still have a good chance of winning the title. We will just have to beat Bhutan handsomely before beating Nepal in the last match," the veteran coach said at the post-match press conference.

"We lost the match because of lack of experience. The players are very young, they need experience. We should have won the match with the chances that we got," the coach added.

Bangladesh, champions of the inaugural edition in 2017, lost the next two finals to India, who are not taking part in this edition.