Shillong, Sep 6: Meghalaya lost a closely-contested match of the Junior National Football Championship for the BC Roy Trophy against West Bengal 3-2 in Bhubaneshwar today.
This was Meghalaya’s first match in Group B and it saw them take a 17th minute lead via Mebanlamlynti Masharing, who scored after taking a few steps into the opposition box.
This was an advantage that the team held on to until more than an hour into the game, which was when the floodgates opened, with Tanbir Dey (61′) equalising for Bengal before the team took the lead nine minutes later through Sahil Mondal.
The WB lead lasted just four minutes as Jonathan Mawa made it 2-2 in the 74th minute by karate-kicking a free-kick that the Bengal defence did not handle well.
Coach Jeffrey Warlarpih made three further substitutions in the minutes following that goal but Meghalaya couldn’t find the winner.
Instead, they were dealt a terrible blow right at the end when Dey scored his second in the fourth minute of second half stoppage time to give West Bengal a full three points.
Meghalaya will next play Jammu & Kashmir on Friday. J&K lost 4-0 to Kerala today.