Shillong, Oct 4: Mawlai put their recent defeat behind them to pummel Laitkor 4-0 in the Shillong Premier League 2025 at the SSA Stadium at First Ground, Polo, here this evening.
Robertson Khongriah (45’), Ricky Chyne (60’), Loving Suting (77’) and Damitre Kynjing (83’) were the scorers for Mawlai today.
Victory took them back to first place in the standings, now with 15 points from seven games. This puts Mawlai ahead of Nangkiew Irat (13) and defending champions Shillong Lajong (12) but these other two clubs each have a match in hand. Laitkor, meanwhile, remain in seventh place with 8 points.
Mawlai were perhaps not at their most confident in the first half, unsurprising as it was just three days ago when they let slip a 3-0 lead to lose to Lajong 4-3. Laitkor, on the other hand, were on a three-game unbeaten streak (though two of those were draws) and they tried to put Mawlai under pressure.
Laitkor had three shots on target inside five minutes of the start but each time Mawlai goalkeeper Banshanskhem Kharsyntiew gathered them cleanly.
At the other end of the pitch, Loving was fed a cross from Fairming Suting but the former tapped it high and the ball struck the crossbar before coming down. The Mawlai No. 10 was stunned that it did not cross the line, though there was little complaint from his bench.
Then, just before the break, Mawlai won a free-kick that Laitkor partially batted away. However, the ball fell to Robertson, who took a shot that clipped the upright before going in.
Mawlai were charged up in the second half and Ricky scored from a Kevin Rymbai corner kick on the hour. Loving was denied by the woodwork in the 77th minute in front of an open goal but he made up for that a minute later when he finally scored. He is the clear top scorer of SPL 2025 with 7 goals now to his name. Damitre later produced his first goal of the season with an absolute screamer when fed the ball by Samlang Rympei.
Mawlai still had further chances, with Loving twice denied by Laitkor’s keeper Hukumskhem Marbaniang, who was making his first appearance this season in goal.
Laitkor had chances of their own in the second half, such as when Sandy Kharkongor was blocked early in proceedings by Banshanskhem, but they were not at their most fluid today and could not find a way through the Mawlai defences.
The SPL 2025 will return on Monday when fifth-place Sawmer take on third-placed Lajong at 4:30PM.
(Shillong Sports Association photo. Mawlai in green, Laitkor in blue)
