Shillong, Aug 11 — Nongkseh SS&CC finished their 135th Durand Cup campaign in style with a dominant 7-0 win over Mumbay FC in a Group E fixture, played here at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Shillong on Tuesday.
Hardy Cliff Nongbri and Dawancha Carlos Challam both struck twice, while Kitboklang Pale, Chesterpoul Lyngdoh and Sheen Stevenson were also on the scoresheet as the hosts produced their most complete performance of the campaign to sign off emphatically.
The result lifts Nongkseh to second in Group E with four points from three matches, level with Langsning FC on points but ahead on goal difference.
Shillong Lajong FC top the group with six points from two matches, with both Shillong Lajong and Langsning FC still to play their final group-stage fixture. Mumbay FC, like Nongkseh, have completed all three of their matches and end their campaign in the group stages.
Nongkseh set out with intent from the opening whistle, working an early corner inside the first two minutes that saw Pale go close from the edge of the box, and the home side continued to look the sharper of the two sides down the flanks, with Aenam Jurwa and Lyngdoh regularly finding pockets of space.
Mumbay, to their credit, matched that early tempo rather than retreating into caution, and for a spell the contest carried a positive, open quality that belied its standing in the group.
The breakthrough arrived in the 11th minute when Lyngdoh was brought down inside the box by Mumbay goalkeeper Pratik Jadhav for a clear penalty. Nongbri stepped up two minutes later and sent Jadhav the wrong way to open the scoring, a goal that visibly settled the hosts and prompted Mumbay to retreat into a more defensive posture.
Nongkseh continued to probe thereafter, Nongbri's free kick in the 26th minute spilt by Jadhav before Mumbay scrambled the danger away, while at the other end the visitors began to show more attacking intent of their own, even if their build-up rarely troubled Nongkseh's goal directly.
A second goal followed in the 41st minute, born more of persistence than precision. Sustained Nongkseh pressure eventually told when Kynsailang Khongsit's delivery from the right was only partially cleared, the loose ball reaching Challam outside the box; his shot took a deflection off Pale that wrong-footed Jadhav entirely and nestled in the corner. Pale himself went close again moments later with a curling effort straight down the goalkeeper's throat, and the sides went in at the break with Nongkseh firmly in command.
Mumbay emerged for the second half with renewed purpose, pushing bodies forward in search of a way back into the contest, though Nongkseh's defensive shape held firm against the increased pressure.
Shano Tariang's effort from distance in the 50th minute drifted off target, and it was Nongkseh who struck next, Aenam recovering after being fouled inside the box to dribble past two challenges and set up Tariang, whose blocked shot fell kindly for Lyngdoh to convert from close range in the 56th minute.
Jadhav's evening ended shortly afterwards, the Mumbay goalkeeper stretchered off with an injury sustained in the buildup to that third goal and replaced by Jebishan L.
Nongkseh continued to press for more, Khongsit rattling the woodwork in the 65th minute before Nongbri's follow-up was blocked, and Stevenson forcing a smart save from Jebishan three minutes later.
Mumbay's best chance of the match arrived through substitute Shreyas Vatekar in the 70th minute, presented with an open net on the counter, but he could not generate the power required, allowing Nongkseh goalkeeper Guidle Syiemlieh to gather comfortably.
The floodgates opened thereafter. Challam scored a genuinely outstanding fourth in the 76th minute, dribbling past three defenders down the left before finishing coolly at the near post, and Nongbri completed his brace three minutes later with a simple tap-in after being teed up by Stevenson. Challam added his second, and Nongkseh's sixth, in the 82nd minute when a tame effort from outside the box squirmed underneath Jebishan and into the net, before Stevenson rounded off the scoring in the 89th minute, capitalising on a defensive error to round off a rout that had, by then, long stopped being in doubt.
Nongkseh's campaign therefore concludes with a result that will offer considerable satisfaction, even without a place in the knockout stages to show for it, while Mumbay FC depart the tournament pointless but not without moments of genuine endeavour along the way.
Group E's remaining business now rests with Shillong Lajong FC and Langsning FC, both still to play their final fixtures with a quarter-final berth at stake.
Wednesday's matches:
Group D: NEROCA FC vs FC Raengdai, Khuman Lampak Main Stadium, Imphal – 4 PM
Group B: Mohammedan SC vs Indian Army FT, Kishore Bharati Krirangan, Kolkata – 7 PM