Shillong, Aug 19: A solitary goal by Knerktilang Buam, thanks to a massive deflection, gave Rangdajied United FC a 1-0 victory over Mawkhar SC in the 37th match of the OC Blue Shillong Premier League 2021-22 at Third Ground, Polo, here on Friday.
Buam’s shot came in the 14th minute, with the lucky deflection off a defender taking the ball away from Mawkhar goalkeeper Banshanskhem Kharsyntiew.
The two teams played out a 1-1 draw in the reverse fixture on 18 June.
Coming into Friday’s game, Rangdajied United were third and had 15 points from nine games, while Mawkhar were at the bottom with 3. Although the victory took RUFC to 18 points, tied with Langsning FC, they are behind on account of head-to-head and stay in third place.
Rangdajied could have gone two goals up in under 30 minutes but a strong Oresterwell Langshiang left-footer was put away by a brilliant dive by Kharsyntiew. Mawkhar also created one good chance of their own in the first half but Bansanbha Khongsdam’s attempt was blocked by RUFC custodian Banshanlang Sten.
The second half saw Rangdajied with a few more look-ins but the club looked like they were missing a person up front to provide them with goals. Although, he is the club’s top scorer with four goals, Donboklang Lyngdoh has not found the back of the net since the fifth match and his goalless streak continued in Friday’s match as well, though he had a great chance in the 73rd minute only for his shot to be blocked by Kharsyntiew at the near post.
With five minutes left on the clock, Mawkhar’s energetic Justerwell Tham had a go but Sten put the ball out with a dive. This was the goalie’s third clean sheet in a row. Although the team has found it difficult to score, they have conceded only five goals in 10 matches.
On Saturday, sixth-placed Malki SC (4 points) will take on fourth-placed Ryntih SC (14) at 4pm. Ryntih had soundly beaten Malki in the first leg 3-0 on 17 June.
