Army Green sneaked into the semi-finals of the 128th Durand Cup football tournament here on Wednesday with a hard fought 1-0 win over Gangtok Himalayan, Sikkim. Striker C.
Army Green sneaked into the semi-finals of the 128th Durand Cup football tournament here on Wednesday with a hard fought 1-0 win over Gangtok Himalayan, Sikkim. Striker C. Lallawmkima scored the winner in the 8th minute. Gangtok Himalayan attacked relentlessly thereafter but Army Green’s well organised defence held firm.
With this win, the Greens have eight points from five matches and are second in the pool behind DSK Shivajians (Pune) who top the pool with 10 points. Army Green have pushed fancied I-league outfit Sporting Clube de Goa, down to third spot. The Goan team finished with seven points from five matches.
DSK Shivajians, as winners of Pool A, will play the first semi-final against the runners-up of Pool B on Friday. The second semi-final will be between the Pool B winners and the runners-up of Pool A.
Meanwhile, Neroca FC (Manipur) drew 2-2 with Army (Red) in a well contested game. Neroca finished with nine points from five matches, Aizawl also have nine points with one match to go. If Aizawl win or draw their postponed match with Real Kashmir, they will top Pool B with 10 points.
Francis Zonunthanga put Army Red ahead in the 8th minute. Sushil Kumar Singh equalised for Neroca in the 53rd and N. Ronald Singh put the Manipur team ahead in the 68th minute. This time Army Red equalised through Suresh Meitei in the 87th minute but Red were eliminated with six points from five matches.
