Shillong, May 3: A less than full-strength Langsning FC came from a goal behind to take down nine-man Ryntih SC 5-1 in the Shillong Premier League 2023 at the SSA Stadium at First Ground, Polo, here on Friday.
Having already qualified for the semifinals, Langsning featured several of their second XI today. Ryntih, on the other hand, were pretty much at full strength even though they had little other than pride to play for as they would be rooted to fifth place no matter the result.
Aatish Rai (17’) put Ryntih into the lead but the red wave followed with goals by Wilbert Marbaniang (42’, 87’), Dapmonlang Pathaw (49’), Dawandappura Biam Pathaw (60’) and Kordor Dkhar (84’) for Langsning.
Ryntih’s goal was fortuitous as a poor clearance by a Langsning defender hit Aatish on the run and went into the net from just a few yards out.
Wilbert then registered the first of his goals with a neat header off a free-kick before half-time to ensure that the two sides again went into the break level.
An early goal in the second half would have wide repercussions. Dapmonlang’s shot struck the crossbar before bouncing down over the line and was signalled as a goal by the assistant referee. However, Ryntih players were not at all happy with the decision and two players – Wanshan Dkhar and Kamran Farooque – received yellow cards for too much arguing with the officials.
Dawandappura made it 3-1 following neat one-two passing between Langsning, with the No. 11 easing the ball past the Ryntih goalkeeper Dipanjan Debnath on the hour.
Less than 10 minutes later, a foul by Wanshan saw him receive a second yellow card and a sending off and that led Kamran to have even more words with the referee, earning him a second yellow as well and Ryntih were suddenly down to nine men in the blink of an eye.
Nevertheless, it still took around 15 minutes before Langsning made that massive advantage in numbers count. Kordor put away an easy header fed to him by teammate Roikhihbha Nongtdu and soon after Debnath made a hash of a back pass to let Wilbert score his second of the day.
Langsning are third now with 15 points, the same as Shillong Lajong FC but the latter have the head-to-head advantage after winning their meeting at the start of the season. Still, it has been a remarkable turnaround for Langsning, who lost their opening two matches and were bottom of the table at one stage. They have now won five games in a row and scored more goals than any other side (23), with 16 of these coming in the last three matches alone.
Tomorrow will witness the last round-robin fixture between Mawlai SC and bottom side Nangkiew Irat SC at 3:15 pm. Mawlai are currently fourth with 13 points and would move to second if they win. A win for Nangkiew Irat would take them to sixth place.
