Shillong, Oct 13: Ryntih ended their I-League Qualifiers campaign with a 2-0 victory over Bengaluru United in Bangalore today.
After losing their opening two matches, Ryntih knew that they couldn’t progress to the next round but the players still gave it their all on the pitch today and netted their first points of the campaign.
Sheen Sohktung put the Shillong side in front in the 29th minute before Dawanchwa Challam sealed the result in the 77th.
The result was a happy one for Ryntih but also had the effect of knocking out Bengaluru United, who had a Meghalaya connection in the form of their defender Kynsailang Khongsit. The win takes Ryntih to third place in Group A and drops FCBU to the bottom.
The match was action-packed right from the first whistle, as Ryntih liberally committed men forward in attack. In the first minute itself, Kinshuk Debnath fouled Chesterpaul Lyngdoh close to the box. From the resulting free-kick, Sohktung swung in a dangerous looking ball, which was fisted away by Bengaluru United goalkeeper Srijith.
The opening goal came about after Sohktung received a pass from Allen Lyngdoh Nongbri and made the most of the space and time afforded to him to send a carefully placed curling shot into the back of the FCBU net.
Ryntih were heroically denied a second goal in the 39th minute as Khongsit blocked Chesterpaul’s shot off the goal line after a mix-up in the back for the hosts.Â
However, Ryntih got their just reward and doubled their advantage in the 77th minute through substitute Challam.
The chance came via a free-kick 20 yards out. Chesterpaul stood over the free-kick and his thunderous effort smashed the crossbar as the ball bounced back into play. FCBU defenders present in the box failed to make the clearance and the ball fell fortuitously back to Challam, who made no mistake with the finish.
The United players appealed in unison for offside but the assistant referee was of the opinion that, as the ball had come off one of their players last, Challam’s goal was perfectly legal.
(AIFF media photo)
