Shillong, May 7: Tomorrow promises to be another keenly fought contest in the Shillong Premier League 2023 with the second semifinal between defending champions Mawlai SC and Langsning FC. Kick-off will be at 3:15PM at the SSA Stadium at First Ground, Polo, here.
While Mawlai are not the all-dominant side they were in SPL 2022, they have lost just one match this season (to Rangdajied 2-1 on 26th April). They have also beaten Langsning already, winning 1-0 on 28th March.
Langsning, however, were a different side at the start of the season. They first lost to Lajong 3-2 in their opener on 22nd March before going down to Mawlai, at which point they were at the bottom of the points table.
Since then, though, they have been on a five-game winning streak as the team has begun to gel well together under the tutelage of coach Khlain Pyrkhat Syiemlieh, who won the SPL in 2022 with Mawlai.
Langsning and Mawlai swapped coaches last year, with Hering Shangpliang and Syiemlieh taking each other’s places.
Despite Langsning’s upswing in performance, Mawlai will be a huge challenge as they have a strong set of players, many of them with experience of winning SPL 2022. Add to that the title-winning experience of Shangpliang and their passionate fans will be confident of further glory.
(Shillong Sports Association file photo)
