By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: On a furiously windy day, Manipur broke the hearts of Meghalaya’s fans with a 1-0 victory in the second semifinal of the Dr T Ao Memorial Football Tournament at the JN Stadium, Polo, on Monday night.
The twice champions will now face trophy holders Mizoram in the final on Wednesday.
A massive crowd came out to cheer on the home team, but their support was not enough to help the home team secure a win. Meghalaya will now meet Arunachal Pradesh in the third place play-off on Tuesday at the revised time of 3:00pm.
In the third minute some nifty footwork between the Meghalaya players saw Donbok Khymdeit with a half chance. He was close to the far line and tried to squeeze it towards the keeper, but S Dinakumar put the ball out for a corner.
Later, Meghalaya skipper Niwan O Gatphoh demonstrated how fast he is on the field when he raced forward, beating a line of Manipur defenders, to reach a long ball. Under pressure on the left flank, he attempted a tight-angled shot, but Dinakumar had it covered.
Gatphoh was always in the thick of the action, feeding the ball beautifully to Barland Syngkon in the Manipur box in the 14th minute, but the latter couldn’t quite control the ball and that gave the opposition goalkeeper enough time to rush forward and collect it.
Another cross in the 22nd minute from Gatphoh on the left flank saw two Meghalaya players collide with the Manipur custodian, which led to the resulting goal being disallowed.
Meghalaya continued to be the stronger team and created a golden opportunity that went a begging in the 30th minute.
Milancy Khongstia, approaching up the right flank, was on side and had an unmarked Khymdeit on the left flank.
His pass to Khymdeit, however, was blocked by Dinakumar. Gatphoh had a chance with the rebound, but collided with the keeper.
Manipur were also on the offensive and, two minutes later, Md Shidur received a cross in the Meghalaya box but headed it straight to goalie Alwyn Patweth.
Two chances came Manipur’s way in stoppage time, but they failed to convert and the scoreline remained 0-0 going into the break.
The visiting team had an unwelcome surprise in store for the home crowd when they took the lead in the 50th minute.
Countering an attack from Meghalaya, Manipur broke free and raced up the field. Md Sohail got the ball on the left flank and, with the keeper drawn forward, he curved a right-footer past Patweth, which went low and into the back of the net.
Meghalaya never let up in the attack, and a massive scrum in front of the Manipur goal following a corner almost yielded the equaliser for the home team in the 65th minute.
Manipur were not playing defensively by any means, but the home team were definitely the ones who were attacking more.
Manipur displayed better technical ability, however, neatly passing the ball between their players.
They also made fewer mistakes than Meghalaya, who frequently lost the ball through their fumbles.
One such error almost resulted in Manipur doubling the lead in the 80th minute when Kh Naoton sprinted up the right flank.
Beating the keeper his fine right-footer hit the upright and stayed in play, much to the relief of the hosts.
In the 89th minute substitute Kerionald Pyngrope had probably the last chance for Meghalaya to draw level.
Running up the right flank, he was unmarked but had to take a running shot on goal that just went wide of the post.
Meghalaya then threw everything they could at Manipur in the dying minutes.
Even Patweth ventured out into the opposition half, but some desperate play was not enough, even as the players were raucously encouraged by the home fans.
Meghalaya’s defence simply was not up to the task in the second session, but having conceded just one goal in the entire tournament, their efforts against a strong team like Manipur, who have only improved as the competition has progressed, were admirable even if they were in a losing cause.
Meghalaya will now have to pick themselves up in order to battle Arunachal, a team they beat 3-0 in the group stage, on Tuesday afternoon in order to at least claim third place.