Shillong, Jan 23: The Meghalaya U-17 girls’ team displayed fine spirit but were beaten by their Bhutan counterparts 4-2 in the second FIFA friendly between the two teams at the JN Stadium here today.
Meghalaya twice took the lead in the match, but the more experienced Bhutan side fought back hard and bagged victory to go along with their 3-0 win on Tuesday.
The Meghalaya girls looked like they had greater confidence going into this fixture and bagged the lead in the 10th minute when Fedelia Lamare scored off a rebound.
The hosts almost managed to hold on to their lead going into the break, but Bhutan captain Sonam Choden equalised with a long-range shot just before the whistle to restore parity.
Soon after the restart, however, Sanfida Nongrum curled in a terrific shot from distance to restore Meghalaya’s lead but Bhutan equalised again via Pema Choki off a corner kick.
The visitors then started to dominate proceedings and Choden slammed in a free-kick in the 62nd minute to give her side the lead. This was her fourth goal against Meghalaya after scoring a brace in the first match as well.
There was one more goal, which came about five minutes later when Dela Lhazom ran up the left and angled the ball in to make it 4-2.
Meghalaya coach Iaikyntiew Nongkynrih appreciated the effort of her players in the two games and said that they have learnt a great deal in playing against Bhutan. Yeshi Wangchuk, the coach of Bhutan also expressed thanks to the Meghalaya Football Association and Directorate of Sports and Youth Affairs for organising the two friendlies.
Best of all, the Meghalaya and Bhutan girls looked to have made some new friends and the MFA would love to host Bhutan again in the future.
