Shillong, Nov 12: The rivalry between Rangdajied United and Shillong Lajong will have yet another venue for its expression as the two giants of the local football scene go up against each other in the final of the inaugural SSA Super Cup 2025 on Thursday at the SSA Stadium at First Ground, Polo, here. Kick-off will be at 5pm.
The two clubs have faced off across a variety of different competitions, from youth tournaments, to the Shillong Premier League, Meghalaya State League, Durand Cup and I-League. The latter, of course, was back in 2013-14, which exists only in the memory of today’s players, who would have all been schoolboys back then.
The Lajong-Rangdajied rivalry has continued on since then, however, and it is SLFC who have had the better run of late, winning both meetings in the SPL 2024 as well as in the MSL and Durand Cup. That winning streak was halted this year in SPL 2025 as the two great rivals were deadlocked 0-0 on 9 August.
The new SSA Super Cup, organised by the Shillong Sports Association, adds another level of competition and excitement for fans of the game, with the Top 6 from the SPL 2025 battling it out in knockout tournament. Langsning, as SPL champions, and runners-up Lajong were given direct spots in the semifinals, while Rangdajied and Mawlai had to come through playoffs to reach the last-four.
RUFC, who only finished fifth in the SPL this year, sprung an upset on Langsning to win 2-0 in the first semifinal courtesy a brace by Stephanson Pale. Lajong then sneaked past Mawlai 1-0 through an own goal.
With a very fresh bunch of players, Rangdajied struggled in the first part of the SPL 2025 and were even in the relegation zone during the early rounds. However, the squad has been able to gel quite nicely since then and they finished strongly with four games unbeaten to make it to the Super Cup where they carried forward their good form to beat Nangkiew Irat 3-0 in the playoffs before taking down the new SPL champions.
Lajong, on the other hand, looked rusty against Mawlai. Their goalkeeper Wanteilang Malngiang managed a sixth clean sheet in seven games across the SPL and Super Cup but up front the team looked like they did not have too many ideas on how to score. That inability to score was a feature of their last SPL match – a goalless draw with Nangkiew Irat that ended up costing them the crown, handing it to Langsning.
With Rangdajied on the rise, they are the stronger team on paper but the club have a history of being overawed in games against Lajong. The young Blues have to put this history behind them if they are to effectively compete against the equally young Reds, who are hungry for glory and a new trophy to add to their cabinet.
