23rd Meghalaya Invitation Football Tournament
Shillong: Bikash Thapa striked twice as 58GTC held off spirited Sawmer to secure victory in an entertaining quarterfinals league clash in the ongoing 23rd Meghalaya Invitation Football Tournament here on Saturday.
Sawmer struggled to retain the ball in the early exchanges and some slack defending saw them getting punished early on with Tsering Bhutia scoring on the 7th minute to put 58GTC ahead.
However on conceding, Sawmer shifted gears to halt GTC’s momentum and began to create chances, their beautiful forward combination saw them equalizing the deficit on the 22nd minute after Aiborlang Rani’s brilliant header found the nets.
With the match balanced at 1-1, both sides displayed excellent skills in their attempt to break the deadlock. In the closing stages of the first half, GTC’s fluidic movement in Sawmer backyard carved an opening for Bikash Thapa who did not fail in converting to put his team back on the front foot.
With a one goal deficit, Sawmer made a bright start to the second half, they kept finding route to trouble GTC’s end, and eventually on the 68th minute they leveled the score back again after they were awarded with a penalty for a clumsy challenge inside the box made by GTC’s defender which Thrainsing converted.
GTC launched a series of attack which Sawmer somehow survived, and as the match approached to its stoppage time, Sawmer repeated their first half mistake and their lapse in defense was punished back again.
On the 85th minute Bikash cruised past his opponent’s defense to score the winner for GTC.