Bengaluru, Feb 3 (PTI) Kenkre FC defeated Sreebhumi 3-1 to move a step closer towards sealing their semi-final berth at the fourth Hero Indian Women's League (IWL) here on Monday.

Kenkre skipper Soumya Guguloth (5th, 18th minutes) scored a brace before Aarti (33rd) pulled one back for Sreebhumi to make it anyone's game.

Asha Kumari (47th) then added a third goal early in the second half as Kenkre pocketed three points from the match.

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.

The first blow arrived just five minutes into the game when Soumya scored with a clinical header from a corner.

Soumya then pounced on a loose ball sharply and made no mistake in making it 2-0 in the 18th minute.

Sreebhumi reduced the margin in the 33rd minute when Aarti headed a corner past Monika Devi in the Kenkre goal.

The game was poised for an exciting second half but Sreebhumi's momentum was deflated early on.

In the 47th minute, it was Soumya again who set up Asha Kumari with a delightful through ball and the latter finished with precision to make it 3-1.

Kenkre now have nine points and remain second, while Sreebhumi move down to fourth with as many points.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)