Shillong, Jan 27: Meghalaya fought back to hold former champions Services to a 2-2 draw in Group B of the National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy 2025-26 in Silapathar, Assam, on Tuesday.
The match was made harder at the end as Meghalaya had a player sent off and had to see out the last 15 minutes or so with 10 men.
Services scored through Jijo Jerone (20′) and Abhishek Pawar (34′) before Meghalaya pulled themselves level with a brace by Deibormame Tongper (45’+1, 64′).
Meghalaya drew with Punjab on 24 January and beat Odisha in their opener two days before that. There were two new faces in the starting lineup today, with Mebanaibok Kharbudnah and Robertson Khongriah coming in for Wanboklang Lyngkhoi and Babysunday Marngar, respectively.
A free-kick yielded the first goal, which Jijo headed in. Meghalaya then had a perfect chance to level when Services conceded a penalty for handball in the box. Mebankhraw Wahlang stepped up but his spot kick in the 30th minute was gathered by the opposing goalkeeper Gagandeep Singh easily enough.
Meghalaya continued to apply pressure, but it was Services who made things worse by scoring a second goal a few minutes later, with Abhishek sneaking forwards to flick in a header.
It was vital for morale that Meghalaya find at least one goal before half-time and Deibormame delivered in stoppage time. Owanijuh Pajuh provided a cross, and Deibor became the third player to score via a header.
Headers would continue to be the order of the day, as Deibor converted a Robertson corner kick in the second half in a way that was similar to Services’ second goal.
The advantage was certainly with Meghalaya by this point, but they had to scale back their attacking spirit somewhat after Dawanchwa Challam was sent off in the 77th minute for a second yellow card offence.
Meghalaya managed to hold off Services until the final whistle and now have 5 points. However, they dropped one spot to third after Railways beat Punjab 2-0 earlier today. Railways and Meghalaya both have 5 points but the former have the healthier goal difference (+2 to +1). The top four teams from each group will qualify for the quarterfinals.
Meghalaya will play Kerala in their next match on Thursday at 2 pm in Silapathar. Kerala pipped Odisha 1-0 today and lead the table with 7 points from three games.
Banner image by Jomon Kollannoor: https://www.pexels.com/photo/football-28238201/
