SHILLONG: In another semifinal that went down to the wire, Mawkhar SC defeated Rangdajied United FC 7-6 in a tiebreaker to reach the U-14 Football Tournament final at Third Ground, Polo, on Wednesday.
The title match of the competition, organised by the Shillong Sports Association, will be held on Saturday at 3:30pm at the same venue.
The finale promises to be an exciting one as Mawkhar SC will face Royal Wahingdoh FC in a battle between neighbours.
Wahingdoh had also come through a penalty shoot-out, on Tuesday, against Nangkiew Irat to reach the final.
Rangdajied were the top team in Group I of the quarterfinal league, while Mawkhar finished second in Group II.
Nevertheless, in Wednesday’s game all of that was put to one side as both teams challenged each other repeatedly even if full time ended without a goal being scored.
RUFC had more of the ball in the second half, but still could not break the deadlock, although not for want of trying.
Towards the end of the 60 minutes, one of their forwards unleashed a screaming shot on goal, which was brilliantly saved by Mawkhar goalkeeper Macduff Nongrum by diving to his left.
With the final whistle blown, a tiebreaker became necessary to separate the closely matched sides.
The anxiety grew as both teams scored a few from the spot, while also missing a couple each, leaving the two outfits level-pegging.
Nongrum’s final save proved to be the deciding moment when he blocked what turned out to be the last spot kick, sending his team mates delirious with joy.
