NEROCA FC slumped to their first defeat of the 135th edition of Durand Cup, going down 0-2 to Indian Navy FC in a Group D clash in front of the home crowd at Khuman Lampak Main Stadium in Imphal on Wednesday. The local side, who had started their campaign with a goalless draw against city rivals TRAU FC, remained rooted to the bottom of the group with one point from two games.Indian Navy FC, on the other hand, bounced back from their opening loss against debutants FC Raengdai to register a commanding victory for their first full points. The Sailors are now second on the group table with three points and are behind leaders Raengdai.After an evenly fought opening 20 minutes, the visitors broke the deadlock midway through the first half with Roshan Panna scoring the opener in 23rd minute. Winger Vijay Marandi chipped one over the NEROCA defence to find the young forward, who capitalized on a hesitant NEROCA goalkeeper Abujam Penand Singh to calmly round the advancing custodian before slotting the ball into an open net.Indian Navy controlled the possession and proceedings for large parts of the game following the change of sides and doubled their lead five minutes after the hour mark.This time central midfielder Muhammed Inayath displayed fine skills to leave behind two men in orange shirts before reaching the byline and attempting a right-footed cross. The ball, however, looped over a backtracking Penand, swerved and nestled into the far bottom corner for a stunning strike to Inayath’s joy, catching the goalkeeper off guard.NEROCA pushed to reduce the deficit in the last half an hour. However, substitutes Sridarth Nongmeikapam and Chabungbam Linky Meitei both failed to convert chances and Penand produced two excellent saves off Indian Navy substitute Pangambam Naoba Meitei as the scoreline remained unchanged till the final whistle much to the home fans’ dismay.NEROCA play a red-hot FC Raengdai in their last group game while Indian Navy will take on TRAU FC.In a Group B match, Indian Army FT defeated debutants Baghpat FC 4-0 at Kishore Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata with all four goals scored in the first half.
