Rangdajied United FC soundly defeated Ryntih SC 4-0 and moved to the top of the Shillong Premier League 2023 points table at the SSA Stadium at First Ground, Polo, here today.
All four goals came in the second half, scored by Robert Khongjoh (52’), Basuk Bina (69’), Stephan Pale (73’) and Enestar Malngiang (90’+3).
The win moves Rangdajied back to the top of the standings with a full 9 points from three matches, while Ryntih stay in fourth on 4 points after four games played.
This was the first time that Ryntih failed to get on the scoreboard but they held their own in the first half even if they did not really set it alight.
Rangdajied mounted numerous attacks up the right flank with Robert in the mix almost every time but RUFC’s go-to man could not come up with the goods, at least in the first half.
His best attempt came in the 37th minute when he spotted the Ryntih goalkeeper Dipanjan Debnath off his line and tried to lob him on the run but the effort was narrowly wide.
Ryntih’s came closest to scoring from a free-kick in the 27th minute that K Lalrosanga headed in on target but Rangdajied’s gloveman Banshanskhem Kharsyntiew latched on to it with a dive.
Robert finally found the breakthrough early on in the second half when a chip went straight to him while he was unmarked. He swerved round Dipanjan, almost lost possession in the process, but hung on to close out the goal.
He was then involved in the second, with a cross by him easily tapped in by Basuk.
Just four minutes later, Rangdajied went up 3-0 with substitute Stephan Pale negotiating his way around a defender before pulling the trigger, this again after Robert had his attempt blocked by the keeper.
The final nail in the coffin arrived from the boot of Enestar, who strongly volleyed home a goal in the third minute of stoppage time.
Although it appears on paper to have been a clinical win for Rangdajied, there were numerous mistakes from both sides that amused the spectators.
Ryntih’s Wungramcham almost gifted RUFC a goal in the 29th minute when he played a free-kick straight to Robert. The latter passed to a team mate and Wungramcham made up for his blunder by throwing his body in front of the shot to keep the scores level.
In the 55th minute risky back-passing by Rangdajied handed the ball on a platter to Lalrosanga but he was blocked by Banshanskhem.
Another Ryntih free-kick a few minutes later was taken by Dipanjan, again straight to an opposition player, this time Basuk. He had all the time in the world but struck the ball straight back to the keeper and could not convert the rebound.
A late move by Ryntih by Wanshanlang Dkhar saw Banshanskhem collide with his own defender Arlangky Nongsiej. While the goalie was left on the ground, Arlangky kept running and was able to deny Dkhar a goal.
Despite the hiccups, Rangdajied will happily take the victory. Tomorrow, Shillong Lajong FC will face Nongthymmai SC at 3pm. A win would take Lajong level on points with Rangdajied. The latter have a goal difference of +6 compared to SLFC’s +3, so provisional first place could change once again. Newbies Nongthymmai, meanwhile, know that a win for them would move them into the top half of the table, displacing Ryntih from fourth.
