Tiddim Road Athletic Union (TRAU) Football Club of Manipur continued its superb performance in the final round of second division I-League as they beat hosts Lone Star Kashmir FC by 1-0 goals in the match played at Synthetic Turf TRC ground here on Sunday.
After a tough tussle during most of the game, Ngaraipam Kscored an all important goal for TRAU in 88th minute. This goal was vital fortheir win as they inflicted another defeat on Lone Star FC in the final round.
With this win TRAU topped the final round points table with12 points from four matches and remain unbeaten in the final round with twogames to go while Lone Star is yet to secure a win as they have now sufferedthree defeats and were held to draw in one. From four matches they have gotonly one point and stand at bottom of the table.
Lone Star had surprised many by qualifying for the finalround and got in contention for the qualifying into I-League. However, in finalround their performance has been dismal as they have not been able to match theopponents who have been in the league.
TRAU on the other hand is on the brink of qualifying intothe I-League with two games to go.
TRAU team will next play against Chhinga Veng FC.
Mentor of Lone Star Kashmir FC Ishfaq Ahmad said he is proudof his team as they gave it everything against a side which has qualityplayers.
“We fought well and gave it everything. We were unlucky notto score and also concede goal in last moments,” said Ishfaq.
“When we played in qualifiers no one gave us a chance. Asthe team was rebuilding. It took us little time to adjust and then we went onto beat some of the senior sides to make it to final round. It was greatachievement and players deserved applause for that,” he said.
About final round, he said, “In final round there are fourteams who had qualified after being on top in their respective groups. All theother three teams had been in league for quite some time while we were inrebuilding phase. The strength of their squad compared to us was far toobetter. Still we did well in each game and were unlucky in the two home games”.
“With team owners backing team fully I am sure that nextseason Lone Star Kashmir FC will be force to reckon with in Second DivisionI-League. We will start rebuilding team early to give us enough time forpreparations,” he added.