GUWAHATI, Sept 1 - A last minute penalty conversion by the Sunrise Athletic Club skipper Maneswar Musahari spoilt defending champions Navajyoti Club�s party in the RG Baruah Super Division Football League of the Guwahati Sports Association at the Nehru Stadium here today. It was a close and keenly contested clash between two leading teams of the city and the match ended 3-2 in favour of Sunrise AC.
Sunrise went 1-0 ahead in the very first minute when their leading striker Rakesh Das deflected the ball into the net off a centre sent by Gaiham Rongmei.
But the Navajyoti players, stung by the sudden goal, shook up with brilliant collective efforts and finally managed to restore parity in the 24th minute when their Nigerian skipper Timothy Onyenka found the net with a sharp header. In the 29th minute Timothy put his team ahead with a grounder from inside the box.
Just before the break (44th minute) Rakesh struck again to level the issue.
In the second session Sunrise boys were more aggressive and created several openings. Rakesh took initiative with his individual skill in building the moves but due to some mistakes in the final approach they were deprived of goal. Navajyoti also came close of scoring in the later part of the match. Timothy�s header reflected off the Sunrise cross piece in the 75th minute.
In the added time Navajyoti defender Subhakshan Rabha handled the ball inside the box and a penalty was awarded in favour of Sunrise which was converted by Maneswar to give his team a much needed victory.
With today�s win Sunrise collected seven points from five matches. NF Railway SC are at the top with 10 points from five matches while ASEB SC are following them with seven points from three outings. Today�s match: ASEB vs GTC.
