Nepal Police Club defeated Karnali Province 3-0 to preserve their unbeaten run in the ANFA Women’s League at the ANFA Complex in Lalitpur on Wednesday.

Nirmala Upadhyaya, Manisha Raut and Samjhana Lawati scored for Police, who have already qualified for the Super League.

The victory against already eliminated Karnali also ensured Police at least a third-placed finish in the ten-ten standings. Police have 18 points from eight matches with five wins and three draws.

Karnali are in the ninth position.

Defending champions Armed Police Force lead the standings with 22 points and are the only other team to have preserved their unbeaten run after eight rounds.

Tribhuvan Army Club occupy the second position with 19 points.

The top five teams at the end of single round robin league progress to the Super League, which will be played in a double round robin format. The top four teams at the end of the Super League will play Qualifiers, Eliminator and final.

At Satdobato, Police went in front in the 44th minute through Upadhyaya’s tight angle effort after Karnali players failed to clear Ghim Kumari Gurung’s corner.

Raut doubled Police’s lead ten minutes into the second half, taking advantage of a howler from Karnali goalkeeper Lila Joshi. The goalie failed to properly grab an easy free kick from Gurung allowing Raut to seize possession of the ball and slam into the back of the net.

Lawati added the third in the 82nd minute from another set piece, sending home a rebound after Raut’s free kick hit the crossbar.

The remaining two spots for the Super League will be decided in the final round, with fourth-placed Waling Municipality (12 points) and fifth-placed Koshi Province (11 points) in the main fray.

Bagmati Youth Club (10 points), Sankata (eight points) and Chandrapur Municipality (eight points) also have slim chances but they could find themselves eliminated without playing their final first round match if Waling beat Chandrapur and Koshi win against bottom-placed Sudurpaschim on Thursday.

Even if Waling vs Chandrapur and Koshi vs Sudurpaschim results go other way—which is very unlikely because Chandrapur are struggling with just one victory and winless Sudurpaschim being the easiest target—Bagmati must get past challenge from a relentless APF to progress.

Sankata’s hopes hang on a thin rope as they must beat Police and hope Koshi falter against Sudurpaschim.