Shillong, May 20: Nongkseh SSCC and Shillong Lajong FC played out a high octane 1-1 draw in their Group A quarterfinal stage match of the 5th Meghalaya State League at the SSA Stadium here this evening.
Although the two teams had played just two days ago, where Nongkseh were 2-0 winners, the atmosphere was no less intense, with fans from both sides heading back to the stadium to cheer on their teams.
Set-pieces proved to be Nongkseh’s major weapon once again, with the opening goal by Mebankhraw Wahlang (33′) coming off a corner kick taken by Hardy Cliff Nongbri.
However, Lajong were strong in open play and were able to equalise just minutes later when Fridison Wanniang (37′) fired through the legs of Nongkseh goalkeeper Guidle Syiemlieh after some neat one-two passing with his SLFC team mates.
Even though the game ended in a draw, these two teams have already given us two matches that were deserving of a final.
In the other match, defending champions Mawlai SC put on their best display of the quarterfinal stage to knock out Rangdajied United FC 4-0. After losing four games in a row, Rangdajied can no longer aspire to reaching the semifinals even though the 2023 champions still have two games to go.
Mawlai scored through Basuklang Bina (14′, 39′), Fairming Suting (66′) and Samlang Rympei (90’+4). The win briefly took them to the top of the Group B standings, until the second match sent them back down to third.
Basuklang has been on a scoring run of late and his two goals today saw him become Mawlai’s top scorer in this MSL with six goals. He seized the lead early and then headed in a Robertson Khongriah free-kick for his brace.
RUFC had shown some improvement in their last game, where they went down to Mawlai 2-1, but they did not build on that today, with poor touches hampering their attack, though they did persist right to the final whistle. A defensive lapse allowed Fairming to score in the second half and Samlang’s goal right at the end was the last action of the match.
In the standings, Nongkseh lead with 8 points, Lajong are second with 7, Mawlai third with 7 and Rangdajied have 0. SLFC have head-to-head advantage over Mawlai and thus take second position for now.
Tomorrow, Group B will enter the second leg with Rymbai Shkenshynriah SC against Maram FC at 2PM; Shkenshynriah won 4-2 in the first leg yesterday. Langsning FC will then face Nangkiew Irat SC at 6PM; Nangkiew will have to put up a much stronger fight after getting a 6-1 whipping in the first leg.
(Meghalaya Football Association photo. Shillong Lajong’s Fridison Wanniang watches as his shot heads towards goal)
