Drab goalless draw ends the season for Lajong as they lose Fed Cup semi to Bagan in aggregate

AN UNINSPIRED contest, full of slack and errors, took place between Shillong Lajong and Mohun Bagan tonight, as the two Federation Cup semi-finalsists ended the second leg of their tie in a goalless draw, resulting in a victory by 5-0 aggregate for the Mariners. 

Mohun Bagan fielded almost all their first team players with the intention of giving them some match practice before next week's final, and that's how they played this game: slowing it down whenever they could, avoiding risks and not trying too hard. 

Shillong Lajong came into the game without much fervour either and seemed to be chasing a dignified finish to their season rather than trying to chase down that mountain of a 5-0 lead that Mohun Bagan had taken in the first leg.

But still the home team was more aggressive than their away counterparts, and early in the game Konsham Singh got a chance to score but ended up shooting it too high. Midway in the half it was Konhsam again who headed a close-ranger away from the target. 

Samuel got a couple of windows to score as well but in the first instance Debjit made a great deflection save, and then the Lajong player missed the target.

Jeje Lalpekhlua had a clash with Zodingliana Ralte and appeared to have hurt his back but thankfully it wasn't anything serious.

In the second half, Sony Norde displayed a few mometns of class. He ran past multiple defenders to to feed Katsumi Yusa who set up Jeje Lalpekhlua but a moment of slack ended the chance. 

A chance came for Fabio when Debjit fumbled trying to save a long ranger from Bipin Singh. But the striker missed a sitter, shooting the ball too high. Minutes later, he made another frustrating miss, hitting the post from close range at a time when he had a gaping open net to push the ball into. 

A similarly unbecoming miss came from Jeje Lalpekhlua in the last minute of the game when he got the ball inside the box but failed to keep it on target. The match ended in an anti-climactic 0-0 draw.

None of the players looked unhappy with the result; they were happy to have been done with it. Lajong's season has now come to an end, and Mohun Bagan players have a week to prepare for the two crucial games they have left this season: the Federation Cup and the AFC Cup pre-quarter final tie, both taking place in Guwahati. The Mariners' head coach Sanjoy Sen, if unsatisfied by the on-field errors from his players tonight, must be happy that all his boys remain healthy and fresh ahead of the two season-defining tests ahead of them.