Play-by-Play: The Shivajians' valiant fightback goes in vain, Lajong bag climactic 2-3 victory at Balewadi

A HARD-FOUGHT SECOND HALF COMEBACK did not materialise in points for DSK Shivajians as Shillong Lajong managed to sneak a 2-3 win against them at Balewadi thanks to a last minute goal by Redeem Tlang.

In a game that was a thriller through and through, Shillong Lajong took an early lead through Isaac Vanmalsawma despite DSK Shivajians dominating possession in the first half. Early in the second half Lajong got their second and it seemed like game over for the home team. But Dave Rogers made a double sub that unleashed a breath of life into the Shivajians' game. In no time, they were level 2-2.

The last 20 minutes saw a nervy battle between both teams to get the winner but it came as a surprise in the last minute of added time when Tlang managed to head in from a ball that had managed to catch keeper Subrata Paul off his line. Lajong bagged the win to take their points tally to 23 points from 14 matches, 5 above the 5th placed Bengaluru FC. DSK Shivajians, meanwhile, will rue not getting any points from here; they are on 14 points from 15 matches and run the risk of finishing out of the top 8 in the league which will see them fall short of qualifying for the Federation Cup in May.

Here's how the whole game unfolded...