Bhaichung’s USFC opens winning account by downing league topper

TWO MORE AND IT’S THROUGH TO FIRST DIVISION
GANGTOK, 11 April: United Sikkim Football Club [USFC] registered a crucial victory, its first in the Gangtok leg of the second division of the I-League Football at Paljor Stadium today. The home club, which has struggled with a loss [to Royal Wahingdoh] and two draws [Kalighat MS and Vasco SC] in the Gangtok leg, made it all good for its strong fan base here today by downing the league toppers ONGC [Mumbai] 2-1.
USFC, which had arrived in Gangtok [after the Siliguri leg of the second division I-League] as the top team with 13 points, had, because of its poor first three games, had slipped to fourth place. With the 3 points earned from today’s victory, USFC has 18 points and climbed one notch to reach the third place. The top-2 teams from the pool after the Gangtok leg will be promoted to the first division. To confirm this promotion, USFC should both its remaining two matches.
However, despite losing the match, ONGC still retains its top spot with 20 points from 10 matches. USFC has also played the same number of matches and has 18 points. Mohammedan Sporting stands between the two with 19 points.
The home club received full support from a packed stadium, especially students from different schools in and around the capital blowing vuvezelas right till the end of the match, their lungs gathering strength from the team’s first win at home.
USFC started strong, launching constant attacks from the moment the starting whistle blew and even missed some good chances in the early minutes.
After missing some good opportunities, Babatunde J Oladels earned the first lead in the 25th minute and within ten minutes, the referee offered a penalty shoot to USFC for a foul in its opponent D-Box, which was successfully converted by Daniel Bidemi Ayeni. USFC was 2-0 ahead in the first half itself.
With 10 goals to his name now, Daniel is still the highest scorer so far in the league.
Towards the end of the first half, well into injury time, ONGC was reduced to 10 men when Alhassan Abubakar was marched off the field with a red card after he intentionally injured Romen Singh of USFC who received medical attention for the bloodied face he was left with.
The injured Romen Singh was replaced by Nim Tshering in the second half against the 10-man ONGC team and soon Bhaichung Bhutia replaced Babatunde. In the 67th minute, the referee offered another penalty kick, this time to ONGC, which was converted as the face-saver for the league toppers by Yusa Katsumi.
The attacks and counter attacks continued and the home team missed some good opportunities to extend the lead in the match which finally ended with the home club registering its first win on home ground.
USFC will now be taking on Aizwal FC on 13 April and Mohammedan Sporting Club on 17 April in the final round. In the Siliguri leg, USFC had drawn its match against Aizwal FC and had lost to Mohammedan SC. Although USFC is a better team on paper and the field than the two, it will have to work past the Siliguri history with the two teams to seal a position for itself in the first division, and with it, becoming the first club from the region to play among the big boys.
The club has extended its thanks to the home crowd, especially the students, for their support and encouragement throughout the match and further urged them to continue with their support for the upcoming two matches of the final round.