19th Meghalaya Invitation Football

Langsning thrash GTC in quarters; enter semi-finals:

Shillong, Nov 27: Langsning SC defeated Gorkha Training Centre (GTC) in the last quarter-final league match of Group A by a whooping 5-2 margin at the ongoing 19th Meghalaya Invitation Football Championship here on Tuesday.

With this victory, Langsning SC not only booked a place in the semi-finals but also topped Group A with four points while GTC and Bangalore District Sports Association (BDFA) are tied with one points each. However, BDFA have advanced into the semi-final with a better goal difference.

Langsning SC dominated Tuesday's match from the beginning and opened their account in the seventh minute as Roland Pyngrope scored a stunner through an excellent pass from centre forward Barister Rymbai.

Three minutes later, Barister overcame three GTC defenders and passed the ball into the box to help right winger Kitbor Kharkongor head the ball into the net.

This was Kitbor's third goal in the three matches that Langsning SC had played in the championship.

Langsning's third goal came with the brilliance of Barister in the 22nd minute after he wrong-footed the GTC defenders to hit a left footer that saw the ball sail into the goal.

However, GTC managed to reduce the margin at the end of the first half as their striker Satya Sen hit the ball over the head of Langsning goalkeeper after seeing the goalkeeper was out of position.

In the second half, GTC played attacking game which paid off in the 64th minute through a goal by Jackie Chand Singh. Jackie scored a stunner from a distance of at least 30 yards to bring down the margin to 2-3.

Eight minutes later, Langsning striker Dajied Rangad Langsning had other ideas in his mind as he ran past three GTC defenders and then lofted the ball over GTC goalkeeper to score his team’s fourth goal.

Ten minutes later, Dajied scored another goal and ensured Langsning SC a 5-2 victory over GTC.

On Wednesday, tournament favourites Combine United from Delhi will take on this year's Super Division champion Ar Hima SC in the last quarter-final league match of Group B.

Combine United has already advanced to the semi-finals while for Ar Hima SC at least a draw would also see them through.

In order to book a place in the semi-final, Laitumkhrah SC would want Combine United defeat Ar Hima SC by a huge margin.

Source: The Shillong Times