Shillong, Nov 4: Meghalaya’s campaign in the men’s football event of the 37th National Games in Goa ended today with a 2-2 draw against Kerala in Group B today.
They were leading by two goals to nil until the the first minute of second half stoppage time when Kerala came back at them with a couple of late strikes.
In the wilting heat, Donlad Diengdoh got the first goal in the 43rd minute after a Kitboklang Pale attempt was partially blocked by Kerala defenders. Diengdoh was on hand to score the rebound, giving him his third goal in as many matches.
That was the only strike of the first half and sent Meghalaya into the break leading 1-0.
That scoreline remained unchanged all the way until the 84th minute when a free-kick for Meghalaya was blocked by the goalkeeper but the rebound was scored off by substitute Maxderidoff Wahlang.
Undaunted, Kerala found a goal with the simplest of tap-ins by Yash Shukla (90’+1) off a cross. Then, two minutes later, a Kerala free-kick was headed into the net by a Meghalaya player for an own goal.
Meghalaya thus end the men’s football event with 1 point from three outings after losses to Manipur and Maharashtra. Hopes were high for a medal for the Santosh Trophy runners-up but it didn’t work out for Meghalaya.