GUWAHATI, March 31 � Gauhati Town Club (GTC) opened their campaign in the All India Football Federation�s 2nd Division League with a win. At Nehru Stadium here today, the city outfit edged past Delhi side Simla Youngs 1-0 in a mediocre encounter. The winning goal came off the boot of Rickey Lallawmawma in the 9th minute. It was, however a story of missed chances as both the teams squandered number of scoring opportunities throughout the match. The visiting side missed two easy sitters in the early stage. But in the second session, PK Singh and Prem Kumar failed to hit the net despite coming close to the scoring zone.
For Town, Rickey and Ikoroha Christian could have enhanced the margin with some accurate shooting. Earlier, in the morning, Indian star Baichung Bhutia�s team United Sikkim played a 2-2 draw against Shillong outfit Langsning Sports Club. The Sikkim boys made a positive start scoring in the sixth minute through NS Manju. But foreign recruit of the Shillong team, Micheal Uchei, levelled the issue converting a spot kick in the 12th minute. The spirited Sikkim players were on their toes and in the first session went 2-1 ahead when Manju again bulged the net in the 31st minute. But it was R Lalnundanga who poured cold water on Sikkim�s jubilation in the 71st minute firing the equaliser.
In another match of the day at SAI ground, North Imphal Sports Association outplayed Golden Thread 3-1 in an one-sided affair. L Nabachandra put his team 2-0 ahead scoring in the sixth and 21st minutes. In the second session, Golden Thread players tried to make a comeback by reducing the margin in the 68th minute through Sanju Vennra. But their effort went in vain as N Rakesh made it 3-1 in the 74th minute and the fate of the match was sealed. The tournament was formally inaugurated by former State footballer Dr Sarat Dutta in. Star footballer Baichung Bhutia and the Assam U-13 football team, which won the title in the National U-13 Football Festival in Tamil Nadu recently were felicitated in the function.
