Shillong, December 23: Christmas came early for Meghalaya football fans as their state team defeated Arunachal Pradesh 2-1 in the last Group E game of the Senior Men’s National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy 2025-26 and therefore qualified for the final round, which will be played next month in Assam.
Meghalaya needed to win and score at least two goals and that is exactly what happened but it was a nervy 90 minutes for the fans who thronged the SSA Stadium here this evening.
Shano Tariang (67′) headed the first goal in just four minutes after coming on as a substitute, while Apborlang Kurbah (74′) doubled the lead a few minutes later. Arunachal were not out of the fight, however, and they pulled a goal back through Midul Doley (83′) but the home team held off the challenge of the visitors and bagged the win.
In the end all three teams finished on 3 points each and all had the same goal difference of 0. However, Meghalaya secured first place on goals scored, with 3 compared to 2 each for Arunachal and Sikkim.
It should never have been this close but Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh proved to be highly competitive this year and gave Meghalaya a real fight. Meghalaya did not make it easy on themselves after losing 2-1 to Sikkim in the opening match on Friday but they were thrown a lifeline after Arunachal pipped Sikkim 1-0 on Sunday. Coach Khlain Pyrkhat Syiemlieh thus knew exactly what his team needed to do – win but by scoring at least 2 goals.
The visitors actually had a couple of the best chances in the first half, with Tagru James heading the ball into the net but the assistant referee found him to be offside. Midul later landed the ball on the crossbar while trying to lob Meghalaya goalkeeper Nister Roy Suting.
But with the game still deadlocked at half time, Arunachal looked content to play for a goalless draw as that would have been enough for them to progress to the next round.
Meghalaya, though, were on the hunt for an opening that would provide them a goal. They piled on enormous pressure in the final third of the pitch, so much so that they earned at least a dozen corner kicks over the course of the match while Arunachal only had a small handful.
Two key substitutions were made by Syiemlieh in the 63rd minute by bringing on Shano and Dawanchwa Challam in place of Deibormame Tongper and Riborlang L Lyngkhoi. The duo, in partnership with Fairming Suting who came on at half time for Babysunday Marngar, injected much-needed verve into the hosts.
It was one of those many corners that yielded the lead. The ball bounced from head to head in the box as neither side was able to get on top of it but finally Apbor aimed a header back into the mix where Shano was positioned and he finished off the job.
Later Apbor would go from provider to scorer. The ball came into the box from the left flank and two Arunachal players collided, allowing Apbor a clear shot, which he smashed in.
Meghalaya were not able to maintain a clean sheet, however, as Midul got his head onto the end of a cross to score. That did not lead to a turning of the tide, though, and Meghalaya held on to their narrow lead all the way to the final whistle, allowing the boys to celebrate a hard-fought campaign, though they know that the true test will come next month early in the New Year when they must face even tougher opposition in the final round of the prestigious national tournament.
