Shillong, Aug 3: Rangdajied United got their Shillong Premier League 2018 campaign off to a winning start with a 2-0 result over Meghalaya Police here today.
It was not the most convincing performance from last year’s runners-up as they only really performed at par in the second half.
Ambilstar Sun (pictured as he headed the ball into the net) scored the first goal in the 61st minute and Samson Nongrum doubled the lead in the 85th.
The first half was largely boring with the first real attempt only coming in the 24th minute when Rangdajied captain Bansharai Sun went over the crossbar with a header.
It was the lack of scoring chances that probably convinced RUFC coach Khlainpyrkhat Syiemlieh to make an early switch, as he chose to bring on one of his fastest players, Reson Malngiang, who was also the third highest scorer last season.
However he wasn’t able to make an impact, only looking more threatening in the second half especially on his favoured left flank.
MLP started the second session immediately aggressive but their early efforts were wide.
Rangdajied then settled down and won a corner in the 60th minute. The original kick into the box was headed away but only as far as a hovering Rangdajied player whose shot was on target but blocked. The block then popped up and Ambilstar rushed forward and headed it in.
MLP would go on to miss a few more chances in the second half, but from the 80th minute and all the way into six minutes of stoppage time it was RUFC dominating.
After being denied a couple of times, Nongrum scored off a counterattack to take the game out of the police’s reach.
Tomorrow newly-promoted Sawmer will take on three-time champions Shillong Lajong at 4PM.
(TSR photo. Rangdajied United are in white, Meghalaya Police in red)
