Shillong, Sep 10: Sawmer produced the upset of the season in the Shillong Premier League 2025 by defeating Rangdajied United 1-0 in the first match of Round 5 at the SSA Stadium at First Ground, Polo, here on Wednesday.
Khainkupar Iawphniaw came on as a substitute and made a decisive impact, scoring the lone goal in the 63rd minute.
Rangdajied have had a mediocre season by their high standards and will be left scratching their heads after failing to score for the third time in five matches. Indeed, they have scored just twice in all, one of which was an own goal.
For Sawmer, this was a remarkable uptick in form – they had beaten bottom side Nongrim Hills on 20 August but had suffered heavy defeats in their other fixtures. This was their first clean sheet of the season after conceding an average of 4.75 goals per match in their previous four outings.
Sawmer have not been short of goals, having scored 7 before today (fifth highest in the league), and they came close a couple of times in the first half, with Bickyson Kharkongor’s attempt cleared by a defender off the line, while Rijied Sunn’s shot cleared the crossbar just before the break. Rangdajied goalkeeper Kerichard L Marshillong was also called on to make a brilliant diving save in the 24th minute.
For their part, RUFC nearly had the lead, but Sawmer defender Mebanjop Warjri scooped the ball off the goal line just in time. Rangdajied’s Benny Khriam then made a spectacular diving header, but the ball went straight to Sawmer keeper Pyrshangbanbha Dkhar.
In the second half, Sawmer’s persistence paid dividends. In a move forward, they put Rangdajied under tremendous pressure in the box on the right side. The ball finally made its way to Khainkupar on the left, who had seemed to go unnoticed by the RUFC defenders. He took a shot that Denelson Pyngrope got a boot to but could not keep out.
Rangdajied’s best chance came in the 73rd minute when a free-kick was not gathered cleanly by Pyrshangbanbha. That gave Micky Marwein scope for a shot, but it took a deflection off the keeper and went out for a corner.
The win saw Sawmer leap several places up the standings to fifth place – they now have 6 points. Rangdajied, on the other hand, dropped to seventh out of 10 teams with 5 points.
On Thursday, league leaders Nangkiew Irat will face eighth-placed Laitkor at 4:30 pm.
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