The SAFF Championship was something “we wanted to conquer and make history—and we did it,” a proud Anthony Samson Andrews, the head coach of East Bengal FC, said in the post-match press conference after defeating the home side—Armed Police Force (APF) FC—in the final of the inaugural SAFF Women’s Club Championship on Saturday.

“It was our third trophy this season—after the Indian Women’s League and the Kanyashree Cup—and we are happy to give this good time to the fans.”

East Bengal, who won their maiden Indian Women’s League title in the 2024-25 season and entered the SAFF tournament, lifted the title of the first edition as the only unbeaten team, that too without conceding any goals in five matches. It was East Bengal’s first international trophy.

APF, the 2024 ANFA Women’s League champion, were also playing in the final as an unbeaten team that had not let the opponent score in four matches, but the final did not go in their favour.

APF and East Bengal were meeting each other for the second time in the tournament. They played in the last match of the tournament’s league-stage on Wednesday, and it ended in a goalless stalemate.

Those who had expected the two would similarly be on equal footing in the final were in for a surprise as the visitors sent three goals past APF on Saturday. Both the team’s squads were virtually the same, as they had made only one change each from their previous game. But performance-wise, the Nepali team was no match for the visitors. And APF coach Jibesh Kumar Pandey admitted as much after the loss in the final. “We, as players and coaching staff, failed today,” he said. “The game showed that we have a lot to improve.”

Fazila Ikwaput’s terror at Dasharath Stadium

Fazila Ikwaput, the Ugandan international, entered the Indian football scene in 2018 for a season with Gokulam Kerala FC. She returned to the same club in the 2023-2024 season as a replacement for Nepal’s goalscoring machine Sabitra Bhandari aka Samba, the highest goalscorer in Indian Women’s League history with a staggering 69 goals in three seasons.

Andrews, who coached Samba in Gokulam Kerala earlier, believes that Ikwaput came as a good replacement for Samba. “Samba was always hungry for goals,” said Andrews, who joined East Bengal from the 2024-25 season. “And we could see that APF lacked a finisher like her. But they still have good players who can fill Samba’s vacancy. They need time.”

While Samba, who opened her goal account at the Ninja A-League with a brace in the 7-0 win for Wellington Phoenix against Sydney FC on Saturday, was being missed by both APF and thousands of fans, Ikwaput made Samba’s absence even more gutting.

Ikwaput scored a brace in the 3-0 win over APF. She opened the scoresheet in the final, capitalising on a poor clearance by Man Maya Damai in the 22nd minute. Shilky Devi Hemam scored the second goal for East Bengal in the 35th minute.

And it took Ikwaput only 15 seconds after the start of the second half to score her second, and the team’s third, goal. With it, Ikwaput, who was also adjudged the most valuable player of the tournament, finished as the tournament’s highest scorer—nine goals in five matches.

Ikwaput’s performance in the SAFF event does not seem out of place when considering her previous accolades. For instance, in 2018, she was one of the scorers for BIIK-Kazygurt, a club from Kazakhstan, in their 3-1 win over FC Barcelona during the Champions League’s Round of 32.

Ikwaput also scored 44 goals in the last two seasons—2023-24 and 2024-25—of the Indian Women’s League for Gokulam Kerala before joining East Bengal recently.

With East Bengal aiming for greater accolades, Andrews, who took East Bengal to the Group Stage of the 2025-26 AFC Women’s Champions League after topping the group of the Preliminary Stage, believes that Ikwaput will be a key player for it.

Ikwaput, despite her talent, which has a high chance of attracting bigger clubs abroad, is likely to stay with East Bengal for quite some time. It was visible in her response when being subbed off in the last minute of the four-minute injury time. Firstly, she showed her jersey number (No 10) to the VIP stand, then did a ‘calm celebration’ and grabbed the logo at the front of her jersey as she subbed off for Karthika Angamuthu.

East Bengal were handed over the silverware by Minister for Youth and Sports Bablu Gupta alongside a cheque of USD10,000. APF received USD5,000 for finishing as the runner-up.

“We have more plans for the club,” Andrews said. “We gave chances to youngsters in the Kanyashree Cup because they need exposure before being able to match the level of the senior players. We will invest more in local talents and create a great women’s team to honour the rich history of East Bengal FC.”

Meanwhile, when asked how APF planned to tackle challenges outside the domestic scene, coach Pandey said they would come back stronger. “We need to invest more in local players and develop them,” he said. “We will work on that.”

On the other hand, Andrews dedicated the SAFF title to the fans back home and to those few who were at Dasharath Stadium. But the home fans, numbering over 8,000, who had come to the stadium after APF squad, alongside the likes of Samba, appealing to the fans to come through videos on social media, did not even have a single moment to raise the roof.

In the 80th minute of the match, APF won a freekick around 30 yards far from East Bengal’s goalpost. As players lined outside the 18-yard box to receive the ball from Anita Basnet, APF’s skipper, a loud cheer was heard. But as the ball did not touch anyone before going outside the frame, the disappointed fans, who at least wanted a consolation goal, started leaving the stadium.