Shillong, Aug 21: Nangkiew Irat bagged a historic victory against Mawlai in the Shillong Premier League 2025, taking down the twice champions 2-0 at the SSA Stadium at First Ground, Polo, here on Thursday.
Himanshu Patil (14’) and Ronaldkydon L Nonglait (68’) scored on either side of halftime for the win.
Since returning to the SPL in 2022, Mawlai have only gone one match before Thursday without scoring. This was also only the fourth time since 2022 that they have lost an SPL match, none of which came against Nangkiew Irat.
Both sides had won their opening 2025 fixtures – Mawlai 6-2 against Sawmer and Nangkiew Irat 3-1 versus Nongrim Hills. Victory today means that Nangkiew Irat climb to first place in the provisional standings with 6 points.
Mawlai looked to play their fast-paced game from the outset, but, in stark contrast, Nangkiew Irat deliberately slowed the game down, even before they took the lead. That careful approach seemed to frustrate Mawlai a little, and conceding did not help matters.
Errors played a part in both goals. A pause in play for treatment on the pitch saw Mawlai slow to get back into position when the referee restarted the game, and Nangkiew Irat took full advantage with Jefferson Pakyntein delivering a perfect cross in the box for Himanshu to head into the back of the net.
In the second half, Mawlai substitute Dameki Khongstia gave the ball away with a miss-pass and that led Nangkiew Irat to attack. Raikutshisha Buam’s diagonal ball low went to Ronaldkydon on the edge of the box, and he took a couple of touches before firing in a low left-footer that Mawlai goalkeeper Lambhamiki Lamare could do nothing about.
Mawlai’s spirit did not diminish, even going two goals down, but they did not have too many good ideas in the final third, especially when up against a rock-solid Nangkiew Irat defence that included two highly experienced veterans in Dibinroy Nongspung (who moved from Mawlai in the pre-season) and Restom Khriam.
Last year’s runners-up Mawlai, had some notable chances, however, such as when Balajied Syiemlieh headed a corner narrowly wide in the first half. A slight mistake by Nangkiew Irat goalie Surjay Kumar Pariyar gave Robertson Khongriah half a chance, but the custodian managed to recover from his error and only conceded a corner. Ricky Chyne also had a strong header on target, but Surjay managed to save this with a dive.
Mawlai were perhaps missing the physicality and attacking ability of Donlad Diengdoh, who had gone to Langsning this season. Nangkiew Irat, meanwhile, have retained a core of players that saw them finish a commendable fourth in SPL 2024 and backed that up with the addition of locals like Dibinroy and Raikutshisha as well as signing Himanshu, who was the top scorer in the recent Maharashtra Senior Men’s Football League.
The SPL 2025 action continues tomorrow with defending champions Shillong Lajong to face Malki at 4:30 pm.
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