I-League: Royal Wahingdoh FC hold Dempo SC to 1-1 draw

Royal Wahingdoh FC came from a goal down to draw one-all with Dempo SC in their I-League match at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Shillong on Saturday. Both goals were scored in the second half by substitutes after a relatively quiet first 45 minutes.

In the first goal, Germanpreet Singh blasted a ball from distance to leave RWFC goalkeeper Prem Kumar Singh with no chance in the 53rd minute. Germanpreet had come in for Tolgay Ozbey at the start of the second half. That silenced the large crowd but their spirits were lifted around 20 minutes later after Nadong Bhutia capitalised on a rebounded shot off the crossbar to tap the ball in for the equaliser. Nadong replaced Jackichand Singh, who picked up an injury after a sharp tackle from a Dempo player.

From then on the home side had most of the ball and they pressed on for the winner. Royal Wahingdoh have twice come from a goal behind to win matches this season and the fans would have been hoping for a repeat performance.

Dempo can be happy with their showing given that they were carrying several injuries and the Royals Wahingdoh defence looked a lot sharper today than in their 0-4 defeat to Bengaluru FC last week. The two clubs fought it out in the last few minutes with Royal Wahingdoh giving it their all, but Dempo resisted successfully enough to come away from Shillong with a point.