City Finals Day 3: National Qualifiers await the Champions of Kohima

The first match was in the Junior Boys category, with G.Rio School facing off against Bethel Baptist.

The first match was in the Junior Boys category, with G.Rio School facing off against Bethel Baptist. Dimo Tep from G. Rio managed to score a goal in the 16th minute and held onto their slim lead until halftime and well into the second half. However G. Rio could not hold on to their lead as Tovito Achumi from Bethel Baptist responded with a strike of his own in the second half. The game ended in a 1-1 tie, with the game going into a penalty shootout. Bethel Baptist ended up coming out on top 6-5 to walk away with a hard fought victory. You can check out the match scorecard and other highlights here.

The second match was a Sub Junior Boys matchup with Bethel Baptist facing off against Christ King Higher Secondary School. In a first half marred by low visibility, Christ King struck first, to make the score 1-0 immediately. In the 35th minute, Bethel Baptist struck back with a strike from Bokito Kiho. They scored again just a few minutes later to take the lead. But they could not hold on as Christ King managed to even up things in the 54th minute with a strike from Agustine Dimchuingam Kamei. This game also went into penalty shootouts with Bethel Baptist coming out on top 4-3. You can check out the interesting moments of the match here.

The third match of the day was a School Girls division match of Ruzhukhrie Government HR Sec School and Lampstand Higher Secondary School. The first half started with a bang as Ruzhukhrie’s Geeta Chettri scored a goal in the 9th minute. Ruzhukhrie added to their tally in the 13th minute with a strike from Akhala Jamir. Akhala Jamir struck again in the 28th minute of the match, but after that it was all Neke K Neke. She took over the Ruzhukhrie offense, scoring three goals in quick succession in the 30th, 34th and 38th minutes. It was quite a hat trick for the young striker, and it helped Ruzhukhrie demolish Lampstand 6-0. You can check out the hattrick and much more here.

The fourth match of the day was a Senior Boys matchup between St. Joseph Higher Secondary School and Christian Higher Secondary School. The first half was uneventful with the only action being a St. Joseph goal, scored by Luntsuba K Jangru. St. Joseph padded their lead late in the second half when Lomathong Yimchunger managed to get one past the post in the 46th minute of the match. Christian Higher Secondary could not answer back and ended up losing the game 2-0. You can check out the scorecard for the game here.

The final game of the day was a College Boys matchup between Patkai Christian College and St. Joseph’s College that promised to be an offensive behemoth with both undefeated teams running their offenses on all cylinders. Patkai had 15 goals in four games and St. Joseph’s was not too far behind with 12 goals in just five matches.
The first half saw Patkai score two goals in succession, in the 9th and the 18th minutes by Ngachanso Siro and Lankaolung Kamson respectively. Patkai padded their lead with another strike in the 49th minute by Thosiengu Kajiri. St. Joseph’s finally scored in the 50th minute with a strike from Thejasietuo Theja. By then it was too late for them to mount any sort of comeback and Patkai walked away 3-1 to remain undefeated. You can check the timeline from this exciting game here.