SHILLONG: Shillong Lajong FC registered their first away win of the season, courtesy a solitary goal by Taisuke Matsugae, in what was an exciting last round of the I-League 2012-13 season against East Bengal at the Kalyani Stadium in Kolkata on Sunday.
Lajong started with Sho Kamimura and Sushil upfront, while Minchol Son was paired up with Wailadmi Passah at the back.
Taisuke teamed up with Boithang Haokip, adding impetus to the midfield.
The Shillong side immediately produced the first real opportunity of the game when Japanese recruit Taisuke put his side ahead, giving them an early lead with an absolute wonder strike in the eighth minute.
The North Easterners understandably started as the brighter side and better opportunities came Lajong’s way while East Bengal failed to produce any meaningful chances.
Thirty minutes later, both teams were creating chances for themselves and this passage of play wore on until the half time whistle with the away side leading 1-0.
As the second half was underway, Thangboi Singto’s men were all guns blazing but the home team found it tough to get past a determined Shillong Lajong defence.
The Kolkata outfit has been on a good run, including in their AFC campaign, and midway through the half, fashioned their best chances to level the score but were lacking that extra push and failed to find the back of the net.
They will play the AFC Cup prequarterfinal against Yangon United at home on Wednesday, so may have taken this game more easily.
Trevor Morgan made a couple of changes to his side in the second half and brought on Barisic for Baljit Sahni, Edeh Chidi for Robin Singh and Penn Ikechukwu Orji for Manandeep Singh in the 69th, 70th and 76th minute respectively.
Singto brought on Eugeneson Lyngdoh for Samson in the 71st minute and Portuguese Edinho Junior for Japanese forward Kamimura in the 72nd minute.
As the game wore on, Lajong defended their lead against the mighty East Bengal, and eventually the referee blew the final whistle to hand the visitors their first away win of the season.
Shillong Lajong ended their I-League campaign in 11th place with 28 points while East Bengal are placed in the third position with 47.
Securing 28 points means the SLFC equalled their best performance in the League; they finished with 28 points in the 2011-2012 season.
Last year was slightly better, however, with the Reds having bagged seven wins and had finished in 10th spot.
There was no possibility for EB to move up the table even if they had won the match, but Lajong had a slim chance of moving up to 10th place, but they needed United Sikkim to defeat Mohun Bagan in the earlier match.
However, that was not to be, as Sikkim went down 0-3 in Gangtok to bow out of the I-League top tier with their 15th defeat of the season.
In the other two matches of the day, Dempo defeated Salgaocar by two goals to one, with both clubs remaining in their pre-match positions of fifth and seventh, respectively.
Champions Churchill Brothers blanked the other relegated side Air India 3-0 in Pune.