Nongrim Hills SC demolished Nangkiew Irat 5-2 in a tremendous display of football in the Shillong Premier League 2024 at the SSA Stadium at First Ground, Polo, here today.
The earlier match saw Laitkor SC pick up a much needed 2-0 win over bottom side Ryntih FC.
A win today would have taken Nangkiew Irat to the top of the table but they put on a below par performance in defence, which let Nongrim Hills run riot. Alem Khongwir (15’, 52’P), Mebanshan Suting (22’), Bankit Nongrum (24’) and Banshemphang Kurbah (62’) produced a rich haul for Nongrim Hills, while Ronaldkydon L Nonglait (33’, 90’+2) scored for Nangkiew Irat.
Alem and Mebanshan caught Nangkiew Irat’s defenders napping when it came to the first two goals of the game, timing their runs perfectly with goalkeeper Surjay Kumar Pariyar left with the unwinnable task of trying to stop the Nongrim Hills players.
The third goal came via a cross that Bankit tapped in, which put Nongrim Hills 3-0 up in less than half an hour, which was truly remarkable.
However, Nangkiew Irat were able to reduce the deficit before half time with Ronaldkydon negotiating a high bounce to help the ball over the line following a cross into the box.
Switching over, Wanpynshngain Nongsteng fouled Bankit from behind and Alem converted the penalty early in the second half. Despite not being in his prime, Alem demonstrated that he still possesses plenty of that stunning pace that made him so dangerous in years gone by. That quickness of foot led to the next goal as he raced Mangalsana Meitei to the ball across half the length of the pitch. Though the defender wrestled possession away, he held the ball too long and Alem pinched it, passed to the unmarked Banshemphang and the latter scored.
Later, Nangkiew Irat captain Shaibor Nongrum was lucky not to be sent off after he committed several fouls even while on a yellow card, one of which resulted in Fernando Malieh needing to be taken to hospital. Nothing, though, could take away Nongrim Hills’ joy at a job well done, not even when they conceded a late goal to Ronaldkydon again.
Earlier, after a goalless first half, Moonstar Nongsiej (66’) and Samborwell Mynsong (78’) scored a goal each to give Laitkor victory over Ryntih, who slipped to their seventh straight defeat.
During a counterattack, Moonstar ran up the left unhindered and slotted the ball low past Ryntih substitute goalkeeper Luckystar Lawai and 12 minutes later Allen L Nongbri clattered a clearance straight into Samborwell, who accepted the gift and scored low beyond the reach of Luckystar.
The SPL 2024 will now pause in order to support the Meghalaya state team that left for the Senior Men’s National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy 2024-25 final round today. The state players are almost all drawn from SPL clubs.
