Our Corresponding
Mokokchung, October 14
Arrjusanger Football Club defeated B-Squad Football Club by two goals thereby securing a berth for the quarter finals from the Pool B at the ongoing XXI MDFA Trophy 2015 at the Imkongmeren Sports Complex on Wednesday, October 14, 2015.
The Arrjusanger team faced a determined B-Squad team at the second match of the day. But, the Arrjusanger midfield was too strong, the defense too formidable and the first half was dominated by the Arrjusanger team. At the 21st minute, an out throw by the Arrjusanger player was received by a fellow midfielder just outside the D-Box who kicked into the centre of the box, Arrjusanger’s midfield Nokcha (jersey no 9) received the ball and kicked it with a second touch. The ball flew over the B-Squad defenders, the goalie was a bit ahead from the goal posts, and the ball went straight into the goal. The B-Squad team desperately tried to find an equalizer but to no avail. The Arrjusanger defense was too formidable to make any serious attempts. The Arrjusanger midfield and strikers were too coordinated; they even missed some good chances at the goal at the first half.
In the second half, the match was also dominated by the Arrjusanger FC and in the 60th minute, after a lot of attempts, Arrjusanger’s striker Dhozou (jersey no 7) scored the second goal thereby sealing the fate of the B-Squad team from the tournament.
In the first match of the day, Elation SA and Youth Association Merepkong XI (YAM) from the Pool A, played their final league match. The Elation SA team dominated the first half of the match and scored a staggering three goals. The first goal was scored by Himjai (jersey no 9) in the 19th minute. Thereafter, Takomeren (jersey no 8) again scored the second goal in the 26th minute. Barely five minutes later, Himjai again scored the third goal at the 31st minute.
In the second half, the Elation midfielder Takomeren (jersey no 8) again scored the fourth goal in the 40th minute. But after the fortieth minute, there was a serious lack of stamina and strategy on the part of the Elation team. The defense floundered miserably enabling the YAM midfielders to easily breach and make some serious attempts at the goal. Their counterattack was rewarded as YAM’s Toshipokaba (jersey no 8) scored the first goal in the 54th minute. As the Elation defenses tried to recover, YAM’s Takalong (jersey no 13) again scored a goal at the 60th minute bringing the score line 4-2. The dying minutes ended without any serious development. The YAM team were hugely handicapped since their star player Lanuyanger (jersey no 4) could not play at the match due to a double yellow card awarded to him in the previous two matches.
With today’s match, three teams at the tournament namely: Arrjusanger from Pool B, NU Lumami (PGSU-L) and Fusion SC from Pool A, have advanced into the quarter finals which will be played from October 17, 2015 onwards.
