Shillong 8 th September: Malki Sports Club and Shillong Lajong FC played an exciting 1-1 draw in a Gionee Shillong Premier League match today at the JN Stadium Shillong.

Malki started the match brightly and had a free kick in the 3 rd minute of the game, but their player’s shot lacked quality as it was easily collected by Lajong custodian Neithovilie.

However, they continued to pressed hard in search of the lead and finally did so when their player, Shylla scored the goal in the 18 th minutes of the match Lajong youngsters started to find their rhythm in the game and had many chances coming their way in front of goal. In the 21 st minute, Samuela Lalmuanpuia’s shot hit the bar which fell on the rebound and he later tried to head the ball into the net but it went over the bar instead.

In the 30 th minute, after a good run by Samuela, passed the ball to Hardy and the latter’s shot was parried away by the keeper to go for a corner. After five minutes of the match, it was Malki’s turn to find some good chances at goal but missed the target as their striker only managed to hit the bar.

Then Lajong pressed forward again for the equaliser. Isaac Vanmalsawma crossed the ball to find Joseph who tried to head the ball into the net but it went wide. The fourth official then gave two minutes of added time and it was during this period when Bipin Singh’s cross found Hardy Cliff Nongbri who made no mistake and headed the ball in the 45+2 minute.

In the second session of the match, Lajong started to add more pressure on the Malki defenders and were troubling them on many occasions. The Reds had many chances in this half but were not able to convent those chances into goals. Overall, it was an interesting encounter between these two teams who fought hard till the end of the final whistle. They had to settle for one point each. With the end of the match, Shillong Lajong FC are on 11 points from 5 games while Malki is on first place with 13 points from 6 macthes.

Lajong will play their next match against Langsning FC on the 12 th September.

Shillong 7 th September: Malki Sports Club and Shillong Lajong FC will face off each other on Thursday in the Gionee Shillong Premier League encounter at the JN Stadium at 3:30PM.

Lajong youngsters are coming into this match after a 3-0 win over Nongkrem Sports Club. Samuela, Hardy Nongbri and Jacob Lalrawngbawla, provided the goals for the team.

The Reds have won three and drew one and have collected 10 points from four games. Unfortunately, due to injury, Bipin Singh and Milan Basumatary will remain absent from the squad.

Shillong Lajong FC Head Coach Thangboi Singto said, “Malki is one of the strongest team in the Gionee SPL. Good thing is we also have been strong and have stayed unbeaten. We just need to keep momentum and play the way we have been playing. We have worked on improving our strengths and taking advantage from the chances we create to get more goals. It will be a test of fitness, strength and character. Our boys are ready for the match”, he said.

Meanwhile, Malki Sports Club is heading into this game after a 3-0 win over Rangdajied United FC. So far, Malki have won three games and lost once and are on 9 points. The last time these two teams played each other in a Shillong Premier League match was on 6 th November 2015. Lajong won the match 3-1.

Lajong youngsters are the only team in the Gionee SPL to remain undefeated. They will look to maintain this record when they take on Malki on Thursday. A tough encounter awaits the football lovers of Shillong as Malki and Lajong will fight hard to collect all three points and be at the top of the Gionee SPL table.

Shillong 3^rd August: Shillong Lajong FC defeated newcomers Nongkrem SC  by 3-0 in the Shillong Premier League encounter played today at JN Stadium, Shillong.

Samuela, Hardy and Jacob each found the net for the Reds in the last 10 minutes of the match.

Lajong have not lost a single game and are now at the top of the Gionee Shillong Premier League 2016 table with 10 points from four matches.

The match was evenly contested in the opening quarter of the match. Nongkrem had a lot of pace on the wings and were determined to put up a good fight against defending champions Shillong Lajong. The Reds did not find the expected rhythm and possession in the match and both teams struggled to maintain possession. In the second quarter of the First half, the referee awarded a controversial foul to Nongkrem outside the Lajong box as the Nongkrem player appeared to trip on his own foot. The Reds erupted in protest against the referee’s decision which resulted in Lajong Defender Nim Dorjee being sent off. Nongkrem had a good chance in the second half when their forward lobbed the ball towards goal but the keeper did just enough to tip the ball towards the bar which then rebounded back in play and cleared away by the defence. The first half however ended with no goals scored as Nongkrem SC failed to capitalise on the one man advantage.

Lajong seemed to have had some good words in the break as they played a much better second half. The Reds were enjoying more possession and pressed forward looking for a good chance at goal. Nongkrem played well on the counter and had couple of good chances to take the lead and upset Lajong. After the hour mark of the match, Lajong seemed to be heading to a disappointing result as the chances were not converted and silly mistakes in passes meant chances were squandered. However, in the 84^th minute, the reds played some beautiful tiki-take style football around the opponents box and Samuela found himself clear on goal to give Lajong the lead. Then in the 88^th minute, Hardy Nongbri doubled the lead after finding some space on the right and placed the ball past the keeper. The match was sealed in the 90^th minute after Jacob took a left footer shot just on the edge of the box from the left and made it 3-0.

Lajong earned all 3 points today after leaving it late and will be playing their next match on the 8^th of September 2016 against Malki SC.

 

Shillong 2^nd Setember: Shillong Lajong FC are all set to take on Nongkrem Sports Club in the SPL encounter at the JN Stadium on Saturday at 3:30 PM.

The newly promoted side, Nongkrem Sports Club are yet to win their first game. It has been a rough start for them and has already conceded a total of 13 goals from 3 matches.

They played the opening match against Meghalaya Police and lost by a big margin, 7-0. Their second game was against Langsning FC on 23^rd August and lost by 3-0 and play their third game on 27^th August against Malki SC and lost by 3-0 again.

As they head on to the fourth game, Nongkrem will look to turn things around and hope for a much better performance.

Meanwhile, the Lajong youngsters are the only team in the league who have not lost a single match so far. After three games played, the Reds have won twice and drew once. A win in tomorrow’s match will ensure the top position for the Reds with 10 points.

Lajong are heading into this match with a 1-0 win over Nangkiew Irat Sports Club.

The Reds will look to make the most from tomorrow’s game and continue their undefeated run in the 2016 edition of the Shillong Premier League.

Shillong 30 th August: Shillong Lajong FC will play their third game of the Gionee Shillong

Premier League against Nangkiew Irat Sports Club on 31 st August at the JN Stadium at

3:30PM.

Lajong started their Gionee SPL campaign with a 2-1 win against Rangdajied United FC.

They played their second game against Royal Wahingdoh FC on 26 th August but had to

settle for one point as the match ended in a goalless draw.

On the other side, Nangkiew Irat Sports Club have played two games so far and lost in

both. They lost their first match 2-0 against Royal Wahingdoh FC on the 20 th August and

lost their second game by 1-0 against Rangdajied United FC on the 25 th August.

In the 2015 edition of the SPL, Shillong Lajong FC registered a 2-1 win in the first round

encounter against Nangkiew on 19 th September. Both sides met again in the second

round on the 26 th October and played out a goalless draw.

Speaking to Shillong Lajong FC Head Coach Thangboi Singto said, “We have trained and

worked on important areas such as combination play and finishing. We hope that it will

bear fruit tomorrow.

Nangkiew Irat will be a difficult team to beat as they are a very hardworking team.

But if we play to our potential and convert our chances we have a good chance to win.

The boys are playing well and we need to play good football consistently for 90+

minutes”, he added.

Shillong 26 th August: Shillong Lajong FC and Royal Wahingdoh FC played out a goalless draw today at the JN Stadium Shillong.

Lajong started off brightly and earned the first corner of the match within 5 minutes and came close in scoring but Royal Wahingdoh defenders did well to prevent a goal.

Lajong enjoyed good ball possession while their opponents were dangerous on the counter attack. It was a heated first half as there were a couple of scuffles between the two teams in the first half. This added to the intensity of the match and nerves kicked in amongst players leading to silly errors on the pitch. Lajong had good chances in front of goal in the first half but lacked the finish. Similarly, Royal Wahingdoh threatened the Lajong defence but was not able to convert.

The second half was a more restrained affair than the first half. Both teams put great effort in breaking the deadlock but did not have the flow of rhythm they would normally be accustomed to. In the 58th minute, Samuela fed a good ball to Milan Basumatary but the latter’s shot went narrowly wide off the post. Lajong had another best chance of the match in the 65th minute on the counter as Jacob lobbed the ball towards Bipin whose speed took him right inside the box but could not make the shot on goal or find Milan who was free on the right as the defence blocked his effort.

In the final stages of the match, Isaac found some space on the right and crossed the ball towards the box but it hit the Royal Wahingdoh defender’s hand. Isaac however was sent off for his aggression towards the referee while appealing for a penalty. With One man advantage, Royal Wahingdoh had good chances as the game opened up.

However, both the teams were not able to find the net and the score remained 0-0 at full time.

Shillong Lajong FC will play their next match against Nangkiew Irat SC on 31 st August.

25 th August 2016: Defending champions, Shillong Lajong FC will face off the runners up of last year Royal Wahingdoh FC in what promises to be a thrilling encounter in the ongoing Gionee Shillong Premier League at the JN Stadium at 3:30PM on Friday.

Lajong youngsters are coming into this match after a 2-1 win over Rangdajied United FC. Samuel Lalmuanpuia and Redeem Tlang netted the two goals for Lajong in their opening match which was held on Monday.

Meanwhile, Royal Wahingdoh FC will head in tomorrow’s clash after a 2-0 win over Nangkiew Irat SC. Bowari Khongstia and Runsing Muinao provided the two goals for Wahingdoh.

The last time these two teams met in a Shillong Premier LEague encounter was on 21 st November 2015. It was the grand finale of the SPL where Lajong youngsters emerged victorious winning by 2-1 and thereby were crowned champions of the league. Interestingly, Royal Wahingdoh FC was unable to defeat Lajong in the first as well as the second round of SPL last year. Lajong won 1-0 in the first and 2-0 in the second round and will look to make it fourth win in a row on Friday.

On the other side, Royal Wahingdoh FC, will be aiming to get a better result this time around and put an end to Lajong’s winning streak over them in this new edition of the Gionee SPL.

Speaking to Shillong Lajong FC Head Coach, Thangboi Singto ahead of tomorrow’s big clash, he said, “It’s always a big game against Royal Wahingdoh. They will be motivated and want to better their record against us. Our boys must play as a cohesive unit to get positive result. They should score from chances they create and keep a clean sheet. But we have to improve in our attacking third and overall keep improving at all fronts.”

A tight contest awaits at the JN Stadium Shillong as both teams will look to register their second wins in the Gionee Shillong Premier League.