2nd Division I-League
SHILLONG: Royal Wahingdoh FC did what they had to in order to keep their dreams of an I-League place alive by beating Kalighat Milan Sangha 2-0 in a Second Division match in Aizawl on Wednesday evening.
After Bhawanipore FC had beaten Hindustan FC 4-1 in the afternoon fixture and taken their points tally to 17, the Royals were required to gain three points from their later match against Kalighat in order to stay in contention.
The 2-0 victory, with goals scored by Bekay Bawar and Jackichand Singh, means that RWFC (15 points) will now go head to head against Bhawanipore on Friday with all to play for.
While Bhawanipore need only to draw that game, Wahingdoh have to win in order to bag the lone qualification spot in next season’s top tier.
Kalighat are tricky opponents but were outplayed on the day by Wahingdoh, who have now won all three of their second phase games in Aizawl.
Bekay opened the scoring in the 18th minute and the Liberian looked dangerous throughout.
Captain Jackichand had an opportunity to double the lead in the 25th minute, but could not convert his chance.
Kalighat lifted their game in the second half and created numerous opportunities, but were also unable to put the ball into the back of the net.
With less than 10 minutes left on the clock, Jackichand made it 2-0 with a superb left-footer that left the goalkeeper with no chance.
The Royals then hung on until the final whistle, with all eyes now on their Friday encounter against Bhawanipore at 6:30pm.
The Kolkatan outfit have been victorious in five of their seven final round matches (three in the first phase in Silchar, two in Aizawl).
They have come through two cracking 4-1 victories in their last two games and will be confident ahead of taking on Wahingdoh.
When the two teams met in Silchar they ended the full 90 minutes without a goal scored.
The same result would suit Bhawanipore on Friday, but Wahingdoh will aim to go all the way and pull the rug from under the Kolkatans’ feet.