By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: Skipper Seityacen Singh saved the day for Royal Wahingdoh FC with a late strike to secure a 1-1 draw against Vasco SC in a 2nd Division I-League final round match played at Siliguri on Thursday.
Traling 0-1, Seityacen restored parity for Wahingdoh in the 87th minute much to the relief of his teammates.
Earlier, the Goan side Vasco went into the lead in the fifth minute after its striker Aiken Dias netted one following a major defence lapse on part of Wahingdoh. However, after conceding the early goal, RWFC came back strong to create a few opportunities. Infact they nearly got the equaliser in the 20th minute when star striker Jackiechand Singh’s powerful strike from outside the box was saved brilliantly by the Vasco custodian.
It was Jackiechand again in action ten minutes later and this time he pushed the ball wide of the post after dribbling past two Vasco defenders. However the first half ended with RWFC trailing by a goal.
Crossing over, Wahingdoh continued to attack in search of the all important equaliser and the team from Shillong got another oppotunity in the 69th minute after striker Perry S Kolie shot for the goal only to be denied by another brilliant effort by the Vasco goalkeeper who had an outstanding match.
Finally, it was skipper Seityacen Singh who drove Wahingdoh home with the equaliser earning a vital point in the process.
Coach Carlton Chapman was happy with the result but expected a better performance from his boys in the future matches.
“We need to pick our game in the remaining part of the tournament. In fact, we were a better side in terms of the ball possession in today’s match. But luck did not favour us as we failed to capitalise on the half-a-dozen chances that came our way,” Chapman said.