Bangladesh got off to a winning start in the SAFF Under-15 Women's Championship with a 2-0 victory over Bhutan at the Changlimithang Stadium in Thimphu yesterday.

First half goals from Shaheda Akter Ripa and Rozina Akter settled the tie in favour of the Red and Greens, who wasted a number of scoring opportunities in the second half.

The 2017-edition champions started the game brightly, with Ripa proving a handful for the Bhutan defenders, but it took Bangladesh 22 minutes to open their account. Ripa beat Bhutan goalkeeper Norbu Zangmo with a fine volley from the edge of the box after being set up by Rehana Akter.

Rozina doubled Bangladesh's lead nine minutes later with an excellent solo effort, sliding the ball past the Bhutan goalkeeper following a darting move into the box from the left side.

The game was disrupted twice by floodlight failure, first towards the end of the first half and then at the start of the second half, but Bangladesh continued to dominate the hosts. However, Golam Rabbani Choton's charges failed to convert their possessional superiority into a goal as most of their efforts were from outside the box which failed to trouble the Bhutan goalkeeper. Skipper Shamsunnahar wasted the easiest chance of the half in the 75th minute as she failed to control the ball in front of goal.

This was the lowest margin of victory for Bangladesh over Bhutan in this competition's history, having beaten the same opponents by 3-0 and 5-0 margin on previous two occasions.

Bangladesh will play their next match against Nepal, who were beaten 4-1 by India in the opening match of the championship, tomorrow.