Football: North Korea win Women's East Asian Cup after beating southern rivals

WUHAN, China (AFP) - North Korea won football's Women's 2015 East Asian Cup with a hard-fought 2-0 victory over rivals South Korea in Wuhan, China on Saturday.

A draw was all that was required by North Korea to win the four-team, round-robin tournament, but a deflected Yun Song Mi free kick and a Ra Un Sim goal in the second half sealed the tournament with a victory.

North Korean goalkeeper Hong Myong Hui narrowly avoided embarrassment in the 10th minute, when she let a long range Jung Seol Bin shot slip under her body, but recovered to stop the ball just before it crossed the line.

In the 20th minute, South Korean defender Lim Seon Joo was booked for holding back North Korean striker, who was threatening to break through on goal.

North Korea then broke the deadlock from the resultant free-kick around 25 yards out, when Yun 's effort took a deflection and flew into the net.

South Korea almost struck back seven minutes later, when Jung curled a shot from the left-hand edge of the box but the ball crashed off the post and was cleared.

The match was sparsely attended but a 50-strong troupe of identically-attired North Korean fans caught the eye at half time with a series of choreographed moves.

North Korea extended their lead in the 51st minute when Ra evaded three South Korean defenders to slot a low diagonal shot into the net and make it 2-0.

South Korea had much of the play in the second half but were unable to capitalise, and the final whistle brought exuberant celebrations as North Korea were crowned East Asian Cup winners.

Four teams compete in the East Asia Cup which is run every second year and usually contested between China, Japan and the two Koreas.

The men's and women's editions ran concurrently in Wuhan, central China, this year.

Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.