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DIPHU — Karbi Anglong Morning Star FC (KAMSFC) lifted the Assam Football Association's (AFA) Assam State Premier League (ASPL) 2023–24 Championship title after defeating United Chirang Duar FC in the final played at the Karbi Anglong Sports Association (KASA) stadium, on Jan. 8.
This is the second consecutive championship win for the blue KAMSFC, the first in 2015, before the league was suspended and revived this year.
In the full 90-minute match, the blue giants, with a 4:3:3 formation, played an attacking game from the start. In the 15th minute, the blue giants scored their first goal through the boots of Clavan with an assist from Robinson Khongsai.
However, the visitors equalised the score from a free kick, as a KAMSFC player was booked for foul play.
For the visitors, the second goal came in succession through a header from a corner. At the end of the first half, the visitors were leading 2-1.
In the second half, the visiting Chirang boys took dominance of the game, but the blue giants also held on with the game, and a few minutes before the end of the stipulated 90 minutes, Bishnu Banali Bordoloi of Morigoan, a former Hyderabad FC reserve player, managed to find an equaliser with an assist from Mukesh Timung.
The 90-minute match ended in a 2-2 draw.
In the first half of the additional 30-minute play, both sides failed to break the deadlock. Resuming from the water break, the blue giants changed their game strategy, pushing four players forward.
In the last six minutes, the blue giants scored three goals to seal the fate of the visitors.
Singdoulien Khongsai, with an assist from Mukesh Timung, scored the third and fourth goals for the blue giants in the 113th and 114th minutes, respectively.
The visitors fought hard and scored their third goal in the second half of added time.
Bishnu Bordoloi scored the game-winning goal in the 117th minute, thanks to an assist from Mukesh Timung. The blue giants eventually won the match 5-3.
Bishnu Bordoloi received cash prize of INR 25, 000 as the best player of the league, while the custodian of the blue giants, Gojen Hanse, was adjudged the best goalkeeper and awarded INR 15,000. Lal Minglu of Dima United received the highest scorer award of INR 25, 000.
The KAMSFC were awarded the champions’ trophy and cash prize of INR 3 lakh, handed over by AIFF president Kalyan Choube, while the runner-up Chirang Duar FC also received a trophy and cash prize of INR 2 lakh, handed over by AFA president Naba Kumar Doley.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, HAD Minister Jogen Mohan, KAAC CEM Tuliram Ronghang, All India Football Federation president Kalyan Chaube, Assam Police Football Coach Jowel Bey, AFA president MLA Naba Kumar Doley, and AFA secretary Dr. Sangrang Brahma, also witnessed the final match.