Rangdajied's semi-final hope crushed by Sporting Goa
Source: Babua Biswas *
Imphal, January 21 2014 :
Rangdajied United FC's unbeaten streak in the 35th Federation Cup came to end, having suffered a 0-2 reverse to Sporting Clube de Goa on Tuesday at the MDS Sports Complex in Manjeri, Kerala.
With this, Rangdajied's hope of making it to the semi-finals in their maiden Federation Cup appearance also came crushing.
The match began on an even note with both Rangdajied and Sporting Goa fighting tooth and nail to get the lead.
It was the Shillong side indeed, which got to have a look at the goal when David Ngaihte's cross from the left was headed wide with Kim Song.
In the next minute, Edmar Figueira's drop header looped over the crosspiece after Thomas Saikhom floated in a delightful cross from the left.
Sporting also had their fair chances.
Ogba Kalu Nnanna shot from just the edge of the box missed the post by a whisker before Boima squandered one more easy chance.
While there was lot of action in the final third for both the teams, the midfield belonged to none as both outfits struggled to stitch together a string of passes losing possession quite cheaply on numerous occasions.
With nothing coming forth, both the team went into the lemon-break with still the semi-final hope intact in their mind.
But once the match resumed, it all came crushing for Rangdajied United.
Boima Karpeh caught goalkeeper Surjay Pariyar off his line to expertly dink over the latter.
Karpeh picked up the ball on the edge of the area after Rowlin Borges had set him up.
The ball nicely nestled into the bottom far corner.
Substitute Victorino Fernandes cushioned their lead in the 70th minute when he slalomed down the middle of the park making the most of some lax defending from Rangdajied United and smashed home beating an onrushing Pariyar.
The result meant, Rangdajied United finished with 2 points and also end East Bengal's hope of making it to the semis even before the defending champions took the field against Bengaluru FC.
* The sender is Media Manager | Rangdajied United FC and can be contacted at rufcmedia(at)gmail(dot)com .