Army (Red) secured its berth in the semi-final round of the ongoing 38th All India Governor’s Gold Cup International Football Tournament 2018 at Paljor Stadium in Gangtok.
In the first quarter-final match played on Saturday, Army (Red) outplayed Sikkim Premier Division League 2018 champion, United Sikkim Football Club 3-0 to progress into the semi-final round.
Army (Red) is also the champion of Independence Day Football Tournament for Chogyal Sir Tashi Namgyal Memorial Club 2018.
Both teams played neck-to-neck from the start to take the early lead in the match but missed some good chances to score early lead in the match. In this series, Mukesh Kumar scored the lead for Army in the 23rd minute and soon his teammate Jain P doubled the lead in the 29th minute. With another goal by Alwin E in the 34th minutes Army finished the first half with 3-0 lead.
Soon in the second half, the referee sent Engpohang Subba of the United Sikkim FC off the field by showing the red card in the 54th minute for roughly tackling the opponent.
The ten-men down home team played their hearts out to bounce back into the match but could not able to breach the opponent defence. While home team players playing their hearts out, the referee sent another player of the United Sikkim FC, Karan Rai off the field by showing the red card for double cautions in the five minutes injury time of the match.
With the final whistle by the referee, Army (Red) won the match by 3-0 to enter into the semi-final round of the tournament.
The second quarter-final match will be played between George Telegraph, Kolkata and ATK, Kolkata (Reserve) on Sunday at 2 PM.