Shillong Premier League
SHILLONG: A tight performance by Nangkiew Irat earned them their second consecutive win, after beating minnows Mawlai in their Shillong Premier League encounter at the JN Sports Complex, Polo, on Monday.
Despite walking out into the second half goalless, a rejuvenated-looking Nangkiew came back hard to fire in two goals for a final 2-0 score line.
Nangkiew’s first goal came in the 61st minute after Man-of-the-Match Norasius Kharumnuid pierced his way through Mawlai’s defence to produce a sliding shot past the keeper.
Norasius, moving down the left flank, beat two defenders before he could find his way into the box. This goal was his second of the tournament.
Meanwhile, Mawlai looked a more disciplined side as they came close to scoring on a few occasions.
Their defence also held up Nangkiew’s attack decently, before finally crumbling towards the latter stages.
Nangkiew Irat striker Nnamdi Stephan Harry, who narrowly missed a sliding tap-in in the 82nd minute, compensated for his loss a minute later with a powerful right-footer into the far corner of the net after displaying excellent ball control.
This was also Nnamdi’s second goal of the League.
The end result was 2-0 in favour of Nangkiew Irat, but they appeared to have outplayed themselves in comparison to last season’s run in the league.
By virtue of this victory, Nangkiew have joined Rangdajied United on six points from two games, although they have a better goal difference than the new I-League team.
On Tuesday, Langsning face Pohkseh at the JN Sports Complex, Polo Grounds, at 3:15pm.
Both teams will be playing their second match of this season’s SPL.
Langsning had beaten Mawlai 4-0 in their first match and have three points.
Pohkseh lost 1-4 to Nangkiew Irat and will seek to earn their first points of the season in Tuesday’s contest.