It’s a hat trick of wins for Kashyap’s troops
SHILLONG: Royal Wahingdoh made it three wins on a trot on Tuesday evening by beating an inspired Bharat FC in a Hero I-League match at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Pune.
The Royals once again rallied to claim all three points cementing their place at the top of the table.
Lagging 0-1 after Kris Bright’s 14th minute goal, Royal Wahingdoh scored through Kim Yeong-Song (59th) and Seityasen Singh (67th) in the second half to total nine points from three matches, while Bharat FC just has one point from the draw against Dempo SC.
Royal Wahingdoh were a changed side on resumption after halftime as substitute Kim, Seityasen and especially Lalmangaih Sanga carried raids unabated before they found the equalizer through Kim in the 59th minute.
Seityasen scored eight minutes later to give clear edge to the visitors and they could have scored at least two more goals, but for some good saves by Arindam Bhattacharya.
Down by Bright’s goal, Royal Wahingdoh worked continuously to find the one breakthrough. In the 58th minute, Lallawnzuala received a through ball on the right but the diminutive defender was called offside.
A minute later, Kim, who came in for Jackichand Singh, got his chance when his skipper Densill Theobald sent a defence-splitting pass through the legs of two Bharat FC defenders. Kim made no mistake as he beat Arindam to post the equalizer. The winning goal came eight minutes later when the visiting skipper set up Lallawnzuala on the right where he had good space to work his strategy.
Lallawnzuala sent a low cross for Kim, but the ball raced past the South Korean only to find striker Seityasen Singh, who was lurking at the back-post.
An unmarked Seityasen fired down the ball into the back of the net for 2-1 winning lead. Royal Wahingdoh started its maiden I-League campaign with a win over city rivals Shillong Lajong FC and followed it up with victory against Salgaocar.
They will now take on defending champions Bengaluru in a home match on Saturday.
Dempo blank Sporting 3-0
Dempo FC scored a fluent 3-0 win over 10-man Sporting Clube de Goa to earn their first win in the third round of the Hero I-League, played at Nehru stadium, Fatorda, Margao on Tuesday.
With Tuesday’s win, Dempo have collected 5 points from 3 matches. While Sporting Clube de Goa, who lost their first match, remained on one point from two matches.
Dempo who led 1-0 at half time scored through Lenny Rodrigues (28th), Alwyn George (50th) and Francis Fernandes (90th).
Dempo FC looked more dominant of the two teams as they enjoyed territorial advantage over their rivals and took the lead in the 28th minute.
They struck again in the 50th minute when Alwyn George, who received a pass from Gurpreet Singh, got the better of his marker Rojen Singh to place the ball into the right corner of the net.
Francis Fernandes than ensured that his team collect full points scored in the 90th minute. (PTI and Agencies)
I-LEAGUE 2014-15
Team P W L D GF GA Points
Royal Wahingdoh 3 3 0 0 5 2 9
Dempo Sports Club 3 1 0 2 3 0 5
Pune FC 2 1 0 1 4 2 4
Mohun Bagan 1 1 0 0 3 1 3
Shillong Lajong FC 2 1 1 0 2 2 3
East Bengal 1 0 0 1 1 1 1
Bharat FC 2 0 1 1 1 2 1
Salgaocar SC 2 0 1 1 1 2 1
Bengaluru 2 0 1 1 1 3 1
Sporting Clube De Goa 2 0 1 1 1 4 1
Mumbai FC 2 0 2 0 1 4 0