Mohammedan SC finish in fourth place after a 0-2 loss to Neroca FC

29th May 2016

Mohammedan Sporting Club ended their campaign in the 2015-16 I-League 2nd Division with a 0-2 defeat to Neroca FC in the final game of the season on Sunday. Second-half goals from Durga Boro (67th) and Ejiogu Emmanuel (77th) proved to be enough for Neroca FC to log their fifth win in the final round of the I-League 2nd Division at the Khuman Lampak Main Stadium in Imphal.

The result meant that Mohammedan SC finished the league in the fourth place on 12 points from 10 games. While, Neroca FC finished third with 17 points. Going into the game the Mohammedan SC think tank made as many as five changes from the side that they fielded against Army XI in the Kalinga Cup semi-final last week, by handing starts to Bikramjit Singh, Nagen Tamang, Dipendu Dowary, Pritam Singh and Simbarashe Gate.

As the game started, it the hosts who had the early chance when their Nigerian striker Emmanuel broke into the Mohammedan SC box as early as the third minute. However, his effort from close was denied by keeper Sourav Chakraborty. After soaking some early pressure, Mohammedan SC began pushing forward and almost took the lead around the 20th minute mark but Dipendu saw but his low drive was saved by the rival custodian Lalit Thapa at the near post.

Thereafter, Mohammedan SC kept on pushing forward and had few more close chances through Ajay Singh and Simbarashe but both were denied by the Neroca defense as first-half ended goalless. Changing over, the visitors continued to dominate proceeding but once again it was the lack of finishing that let the Kolkata outfit down.

Meanwhile, at the other end, Neroca took the lead through Durga. The former North-East United striker who came in as a substitute, scored of an Tomba Singh pass in the 67th minute. Having scored, Neroca increased their pressure on the Mohammedan SC defense and doubled their advantage as Emmanuel got on the scoresheet the 77th minute.

Mohammedan SC, in the remainder of the game, tried hard to get a goal back, however they failed to penetrate into the rival box as the game ended 2-0 in favour of Neroca FC.