By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: New signing Sho Kamimura scored twice to help Shillong Lajong FC secure a point against Air India in their I-League match, played at the JN Stadium, Polo, on Monday.
The Japanese striker’s goals came at crucial times – on both occasions the local team were trailing the visitors – and he was the deserved recipient of the Man-of-the-Match award.
The 2-2 draw, however, was not enough for Lajong to maintain their position in the standings, as they dropped to 10th following Sporting Clube de Goa’s 2-0 win over Salgaocar, which moved the former into ninth spot. In the other match of the day, Pailan Arrows drew 1-1 with United Sikkim.
Both teams started the game a little scrappily, with neither side able to create a chance to score.
The Monday crowd got their first real chance to see Kamimura, who has played in Japan and Singapore, in action in the 13th minute when he ran unimpeded up the centre of Air India’s half and fired the ball from outside the box to the opposing goalkeeper, Jagroop Singh.
That attempt seemed to signal the actual start of the SLFC attack, but they were pegged back almost immediately when Henry Ezeh, one of the Airmen’s strikers, scored from close range after a throw-in to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.
From the half-hour mark, the Reds had the majority of possession as they sought to restore parity. Their persistence was rewarded in the 37th minute with the first of Kamimura’s goals.
A lofted pass to Friday Gbeneme was headed by the Nigerian to his Japanese team mate, who controlled the ball nicely right in front of the goal and struck a left-footer past the keeper.
The first half ended 1-1 and Friday was replaced by Lajong’s second Japanese signing, Taisuke Matsugae at the start of the second.
It was all Shillong Lajong in the early minutes after the restart, with Matsugae earning a corner and Kamimura striking a low ball to the keeper. Boithang Haokip also got into the action with another shot blocked by Jagroop in the 49th minute.
Air India then began to respond, but determined – albeit at times confused – defence from Lajong ensured that the visitors were denied a second goal.
That resistance was broken in the 63rd minute, however.
A cross from the far side was headed in by Prakash Thorat to put the Airmen 2-1 up and dent the home side’s hopes of bagging three points.
Following this, Air India went into their shell a little, seemingly content with the score as it stood, although they did almost spring another surprise when a shot from one of their players struck the crossbar in the 79th minute.
There were a couple of near-misses for the Reds, including one where the ball kissed the upright and went out, to the dismay of the local fans, but Kamimura gave the home side something to cheer about.
Getting past the defensive line, he was faced only with Jagroop and he calmly lobbed the ball over the goalie in the last minute of stoppage time, which saw the crowd leap to their feet in celebration.
With this result, Shillong Lajong have now gone 10 matches without a victory, something they will look to change in the next match, a home game against United Sikkim on February 3.
Asked whether he was happy with the result, Lajong’s interim coach Thangboi Singto said, “I am pretty satisfied to earn a point from this match.”
On Kamimura, Thangboi said that he is a great asset to the team.
“I hope he (Kamimura) continues to play the same way in future matches of the I-League.”
The interim coach also said that his players will take some time to adapt to the new changes in strategy.
Under Thangboi the SLFC players have been kept the ball on the ground more and also concentrated on short passes against Air India.
According to Thangboi, there are minimum changes which the players have to adopt, with the game plan of the team remaining pretty much the same.
“I would like to see the team improve in many departments. We have the capability to improve in our performances in the coming matches,” he said.