Principal Correspondent Kohima, September 3
Twice champions (2009& 2010) Nagaland Police upheld their fame by coming from behind to knock Head Hunters (Territorial Army) in the first semi-final match of the ongoing 20th Classic Cup 2014 organised by Classic Club under the theme “Touching Lives through football” at Kohima Local Ground. Playing a closely contested first half of the match, Cops attacked the rival within the second minute as Lipok Jamir (7) struck from the edge of the D’box but army custodian Welungbo caught it safe. They got another opportunity in the fourth minute as Nandai Bonang (8) made the ball for Sakutemjen (14), but his shot went wide off target while in the 20th minute Lipok tried another long range target shot slightly missing the cross bar. On the other hand, army player made their first attempt in the 28th minute as Khekiho pushed the ball towards the second post, but cops custodian Mezhülhoukho made an excellent dive towards the left thwarting the goal. In the 35th minute, army striker Tiayanger’s header from the six yard zone was too feeble to beat Mezhü. L. Reho Jamir of Head Hunters was penalized with a yellow card in the 35th minute. In the 44th minute K. Vitoshe Sumi tried a long attempt but only to be blocked by rival custodian. A minute later he was penalized for foul play while in the injury added 2 minutes of the first half, cops mid-fielder Mantok (17) was also cautioned with a yellow card. The first half ended in a disappointing goalless draw. Seven minutes into the second half, it was Khekiho breaking the deadlock and giving army the lead by converting a neat pass from Tiayanger. Nevertheless, their happiness was short-lived as cops mid-fielder Mantok paid for his yellow card by scoring the equalizer off a corner kick by Nandai in the 56th minute of the game. Subsequently, two minutes later, cops took also managed to score the lead through a Saku’s powerful shot from D’box. Tiayanger of HH and Chinithang (15) of NP were marked with yellow card each in the 70th and 73rd minute. In another disappointment for the army, referee awarded penalty spot kick in favour of cops because of a hand-ball inside the danger zone by defender L. James in the 75th minute. Taking the kick, Lipok Jamir did not make any mistake in taking hope the second lead and third goal for his team. They could have added the fourth score, but Ninja (10) shot from inside the box went wide off target despite having a free net after Welungbo fumbled collecting Saku’s shot in the 77th minute. Cops had to play the last five minutes of the game with 10 players as defender Chinithang was sent back to the bench with a Red Card for foul play despite being cautioned earlier. Army mid-fielder Lemwang was also panalised with a yellow card just before the conclusion of the first semi-final, which went in favour of cops by 3-1. Today’s match was graced by Director of Soil & Water Conservation Limameren as the patron.