Shillong, January 31: Sawmer SC overcame the odds to take a point in a 1-1 draw against Nangkiew Irat SC in the OC Blue Shillong Premier League 2024 at the SSA Stadium at First Ground, Polo, here today.
Wallamsuk Nongkhlaw (6’P) put Nangkiew Irat into the lead before Hilford Lyngkhei (69’) equalised for Sawmer.
This ended a run of five consecutive defeats for Sawmer but it extended a string of drawn matches for Nangkiew Irat now to four.
After going ahead early thanks to the penalty, Nangkiew Irat had further chances to score but an acrobatic kick from Ronaldkydon L Nonglait in the 40th minute smashed into the woodwork and Jefferson Pakyntein was then denied by the goalkeeper Jeffrey G Jyrwa before half time.
Sawmer were rather lucky to score in the second half with an innocuous header by Hilford catching Nangkiew Irat goalie Surjay Kumar Pariyar on the wrong foot. That provided a brief spell of momentum for Sawmer, who almost took the lead through a strong Orestar Sad free-kick from distance that Surnay was able to cover.
Sawmer used up their substitution windows and then lost a player to a bruiser of a challenge. That meant that they played the last 15 minutes or so with only 10 men. Realising that this was a huge opportunity, Nangkiew Irat coach Joseph Naik tried to spur on his players to find the winner but they were successfully held back by Sawmer’s defenders.
Nangkiew Irat now have 16 points from 12 games, while Sawmer have 12 from 12. Neither side moved up in the standings, with Nangkiew Irat still fifth and Sawmer eighth.
The next match will take place on 3 February between Ryntih FC and Langsning FC at 2:30pm.
