Al-Mamlaka have been crowned champions of the Saudi women’s National Football Championship after a stunning five-goal performance by Hessa Al-Essa swept them to a 7-0 win over Challenge at King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah on Saturday.
Al-Mamlaka, who last month finished runners-up in the inaugural Regional Football League’s Eastern division, took the lead through Munira Al-Hamdan, who later scored another along with the Bahraini Al-Essa’s five goals.
Al-Essa’s haul ensured she finished as the competition’s top scorer, with Tunisian teammate Samia El-Aouni second with four goals.
Samia Khaled of Al-Mamlaka claimed the best goalkeeper award after conceding only two goals in the national championship, which kicked of on new year’s day and is organized by the Saudi Arabian Football Federation. Al-Bandari Hawsawi was crowned the competition’s best player.
The champions pocketed SR300,000 ($79,000), while second-place Challenge took home SR250,000, and the Al-Yamamah team won third place and a prize of SR200,000.
Al-Yamamah claimed third place and SR200,000 after beating Jeddah Eagles 3-0 earlier in the day, thanks to goals by Moudhi Abdel Mohsen, Al-Bandary Mubarak and Anya Fermat.
