Dempo edge past hosts 2-1 in a poorly officiated encounter
By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: Shillong Lajong went down fighting to Goa giants Dempo FC following a controversial decision by the referee during the crucial 16th round I-League match played at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here on Sunday.
Lajong went ahead in the 81st minute when Tuboi headed into the nets from a Rennedy Singh corner. However Lajong’s joy was short lived as Dempo’s Ranti Martin scored a stunner in the 88th minute. And it was two minutes later that the controversy started when referee SS Panda awarded a penalty to Dempo in the dying minutes of the match. The decision brought uproar from the crowd since the referee had first allowed an advantage play on after the ball hit the hand of Lajong defender Weiladmi Passah. But after the Dempo striker hit the ball wide of the goal, the referee reversed his decision and awarded a penalty kick to the visiting team.
Crowd uproar ends match
Dempo star striker Ranti Martins who had earlier scored the equalizer made no mistake to convert the penalty to put his team to a 2-1 lead. Thereafter, the angry crowd did not allow the match to continue even as three minutes of play was still left. As stones and bottles were thrown into the ground the referee blew the final whistle. Despite this, the crowd refused to move out of the stadium and continued hurling bottles into the ground to show their disappointment. This aggressive mood of the over 20,000 strong spectators forced the policemen to swing into action and things came under control only after the players had left the ground.
Earlier, Shillong Lajong put up a much improved performance and the inclusion of Australian striker Mawthew Osvaldo Mayora along with skipper John D Meyongnar and Lalramluaha, who joined the squad after their one match suspension, largely contributed to the better show.
The home team dominated the proceedings right from the word go but it was Dempo who got the first real opening of the match after Ranti Martin’s powerful strike from outside the box in the 7th minute saw the ball miss the goal narrowly.
Eight minutes later, Lajong striker Boithang Hoakip made a good attempt at the nets after his long range shot saw the ball dip over the goal.
However, the best scoring opportunity of the first half came the home team’s way in the 32minute after new signing Australian striker Mayora failed to control the ball of a rebound from Dempo custodian Subhasish Roy Choudhury.
Crossing over from a goalless first half, the home side continued to attack in the second part of the match. But it was only in the 81st minute that the Reds tasted success. Recent signing Rennedy Singh was instrumental in Lajong’s lone goal of the match as the star Indian midfielder, who came in as a substitute in the 80th minute, made an impact in his first minute of play for Lajong. Rennedy took a well crafted corner kick to find Seikhohao Tuboi near the goal post and the latter made no mistake to take his side to a 1-0 lead.
Seven minutes later Dempo’s Ranti scored a stunner, which was hit 20 yards from the box, to pave the way for his side’s. Two minutes later the home crowd was stunned to silence when a controversial penalty was awarded to Dempo which ultimately cost Lajong the match.
In the post match press conference, Lajong coach, Pradhyum Reddy criticised the decision calling it a case of “incompetent” refereeing.
“It was for all to see that the referee was biased and this always happens when smaller teams play against the big teams,” Reddy said while adding that this is third time in this season that the home team lost the match because of the biasness on part of the officials.
Reddy attributed the crowd’s actions to bad refereeing.
“I can understand their frustrations. We tried to calm them down but we were disappointed to see the crowd behaving like that,” Reddy said.
Meanwhile, Dempo coach Armando Colaco admitted that his team was lucky to have got full points from this match.
On the controversial penalty, Colaco said that the Lajong stopper was the best judge since he was near the action. While praising of Shillong Lajong, Colaco said, “I did not know that the Shillong side has the capability to perform so well,”
With this win Dempo are on top of the table with 36 points from 16 matches while Lajong are on 17 points.