FC Raengdai beat TRAU FC 4-3 to go top of Group D in Durand Cup

FC Raengdai continued their dream debut campaign in the 135th IndianOil Durand Cup with a thrilling 4-3 victory over TRAU FC in Imphal. The newcomers made it two wins in two matches to climb to the top of Group D with six points

Hyderabad: FC Raengdai’s fairytale run through the 135th IndianOil Durand Cup shows no sign of running out of chapters.

The newcomers overturned a home crowd and outlasted TRAU FC (Tiddim Road Athletic Union) 4-3 in a breathless Group D contest at the Khuman Lampak Main Stadium in Imphal on Monday, a match that swung on its axis often enough to leave both dugouts looking faintly seasick by the end of it.

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There was barely a passage of the ninety-plus minutes that did not carry some fresh implication for the group table, and fewer still that allowed either set of supporters to settle into their seats. FC Raengdai, debutants in this competition, played like a side entirely unburdened by the occasion, while TRAU discovered that a two-goal deficit in front of their own crowd is rather more easily conjured than erased.

The result sends FC Raengdai top of Group D with six points from two matches, a start few would have predicted for a side playing only its second-ever Durand Cup fixture. Neroca sit second on one point from a single outing, with TRAU third, also on one point but with two games gone. Indian Navy occupy fourth without a win to their name. With the group not yet at its halfway mark, the picture remains fluid, though Monday’s result has plainly done TRAU’s cause no favours.

The result: FC Raengdai 4 (Mridul Doley 14′, 24′, 79′, Chongtham Kishan Singh 45+3’) bt TRAU FC 3 (Chanam Akash Meitei 43′, Afdal Varikkodan 47′, Lanchungrei Pamei 67′ OG).