Churachandpur 1st Div league GSC, LC cruise into last four stage
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, October 07 2017: Lenlai Club (LC) and Ganggam Soccer Club (GSC) cruised into the semifinals of the ongoing Khaikhanlian Memorial District 1st Division league 2017 at Peace Ground, Tuibong after emerging the undisputed winners in their respective Pool .

In the first semifinal match on Oct 12, Bungmual YC face winners of Pool C while LC and GSC will lock horns in the second semifinal the same day .

In their last group stage match today, Lenlai Club (LC) rode on a brace by K Lalrintluanga to down Molnom Youth Club (MYC) 5-3.It was a decisive battle for Lenlai Club and Molnom Youth Club as the winners of today’s match would be given the semifinal berth .

Churachandpur 1st Div league GSC, LC cruise into last four stage

The two sides made a cagey start although LC had the upper hand right from the start.

Paoginmuan put LC ahead in the 21st minute before K Lalrintluanga doubled the lead in the 28th minute.

The first half ended with LC’s 2-0 lead intact .

At the restart, MYC showed all eagerness to draw level and their relentless efforts paid dividends when Thanglallem pulled one back in the 49th minute .

K Lalrintluanga struck his second goal in the 56th minute to make it 3-1.Undaunted even after two goals down, MYC collected its strength and intensified their raids in their attempts to plug the gap.

Lunminthang Haokip netted one for MYC in the 59th minute to reduce the margin .

However, determined Lenlai forwards simply refused to bask in their leads and upped their game to find more goals.

Laldarmawi and Haokhongam were bang on targets respectively in the 69th and 79th minute to extend the lead of LC .

SL Thangtinsei Haokip of MYC found the net in the 82nd minute.

Even as they made frenetic attempts to restore parity, the efforts of MYC went abegging .

In another crucial encounter, Ganggam Soccer Club (GSC) produced an outstanding performance to eke out a hard fought 3-2 win over Zoheisa FC (ZOFC) and book their place in the semifinal .

A goal each by GSC’s Khupneingir, Paotinmang and Henry Kamei were enough to sink ZOFC .

The two sides made an impressive start as they resorted to attacking right from the word go.

N Khupneingir put GSC in the driver’s seat as early in the 5th minute after he banged in a goal .

However, the lead was short-lived as ZOFC drew level in the 8th minute through Haulianmang .

GSC’s star striker K Paotinmang asserted his class and booted home a goal in the 19th minute to put his team ahead once again.

The first half ended with the 2-1 lead of GSC .

After the breather, both teams sprang vigorously to change the script from the midfield and flanks.

GSC’s L Henry Kamei found his target in the 70th minute to make it 3-1.Barely a minute later, Hang Samuel added a quick goal to the account of ZOFC thus reducing the margin .

Desperate to rescue full points, GSC defenders gathered all strength to withstand the onslaught of ZOFC forwards.

They were successful in defending their citadel till the final whistle was blown.