Finally another I-League 2nd Division campaign begins !
The new system installed by Tetea Hmar whilst in charge of the I-League committee , certainly has some positives.
The teams that performed well in the 2nd Division last season : FC Bengaluru United, Sporting Clube de Goa, and United Sports Club have kept there place in the 3rd Tier. SUDEVA opted to withdraw from the tournament With the addition of the 2 Relegated I-League teams from Manipur : NEROCA & TRAU it brings it to 5 teams.
the 4 qualifiers from the complicated 3rd Division ( 4th Tier ) qualifier system were Diamond Harbour ( Champions ) , SAT Tirur , CHANMARI FC and KLASA.
Favourites / form guide imho DIAMOND HARBOUR FC : coached by former I-League winner and ISL Coach Kibu Vicuna* are the clear favourites with the biggest budget and a host of experienced players like Naro Shreshta , Jobi Justin and others with I-League and ISL experience.
SPORTING CLUBE De GOA : coach my Dronacharya ARMANDO COLACO , they are flying high in the Goa Pro League, on an unbeaten run. Have strengthened their squad with the likes of GPL top scorer Ronaldo Oliveira and ISL Hatrick man SEMBOI HAOKIP , shouldve learned from last years showing and qualify.
Contenders :
FC Bengaluru United : recently appointed Nallapan Mohanraj , but the short time to gel with the TEAM, and sqaud picked by others , will be a handicap. Will they once again be the perennial "bridesmaid"
CHANMARI FC : Very impressive in the 3rd Div and the MPL ,home grown squad have added Dipankur as their coach, will be tough to beat in Aizawl , but away from Mizoram ,expect them to struggle. They don't have the finances for I-League, so they will hoping to avoid relegation and stabilise as a 2nd Div team.
Dark horses :
SAT Tirur : relatively unknown entity , but with local players , will be tough prospect in Manjeri to play against. Inexperience will cost them away from home
United SC : Have the experience of the same Foreign coach Steve Herbots* and some Santosh tTrophy winning players , will be a tough nut to crack.
Also rans
The 3 Manipuri teams will have to play away from HOME most likley , and that will hamper them, although the talented youngsters that they can tap into with the experienced Veterans will mean they can play spoil sport to any of the above teams
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Hearing about Ronaldo Oliveira after a very long time. He was regarded as next big thing from Goa few years ago
10-man Diamond Harbour finish strong against Sporting Clube
Sporting Clube de Goa’s bid to return to the I-League started with a defeat after they failed to corner Diamond Harbour FC, who were reduced to ten men for more than half an hour at the Naihati Stadium on Sunday.
Diamond Harbour scored the opening goal in the 35th minute from a penalty, converted by Naro Hari Shreshta. The hosts were reduced to ten men in the 56th minute after Mohit Mittal was sent off for a dangerous tackle. The advantage and momentum swung Sporting Clube’s way, but it were Diamond Harbour who struck from a counter attack in the 89th minute with Girik Khosla scoring the insurance goal.
Sporting did pull a goal back when Vikram Venkatachalam converted a penalty in stoppage time but there was no time left for a comeback.
Among the favourites to qualify, Diamond Harbour started strongly and pushed Sporting on the backfoot. After a couple of close shaves, Sporting conceded a penalty when Joel Colaco was adjudged to have handled the ball inside the box. Naro Hari stepped up and made no mistake, despite goalkeeper Abhimanyu Singh going the same way.
Sporting’s attempts to respond were met with stiff resistance, and despite a numerical advantage following the red card in the second half, their final ball lacked precision.
Sporting relied on long rangers to restore parity. Ivon Costa saw two of his attempts miss the target narrowly, while Dattaraj Gaonkar’s powerful shot from outside the box was parried away by the goalkeeper.
As the match entered its closing stages, Khosla’s well-timed finish widened the gap, leaving Sporting with an uphill task.
Venkatachalam’s late goal offered a glimmer of hope, but it was too little too late.
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https://i-league.org/fixtures-page/ileague-2/
I-League 2 results and Points Table
10-man Diamond Harbour finish strong against Sporting Clube
Diamond Harbour scored the opening goal in the 35th minute from a penalty, converted by Naro Hari Shreshta. The hosts were reduced to ten men in the 56th minute after Mohit Mittal was sent off for a dangerous tackle. The advantage and momentum swung Sporting Clube’s way, but it were Diamond Harbour who struck from a counter attack in the 89th minute with Girik Khosla scoring the insurance goal.
Sporting did pull a goal back when Vikram Venkatachalam converted a penalty in stoppage time but there was no time left for a comeback.
Among the favourites to qualify, Diamond Harbour started strongly and pushed Sporting on the backfoot. After a couple of close shaves, Sporting conceded a penalty when Joel Colaco was adjudged to have handled the ball inside the box. Naro Hari stepped up and made no mistake, despite goalkeeper Abhimanyu Singh going the same way.
Sporting relied on long rangers to restore parity. Ivon Costa saw two of his attempts miss the target narrowly, while Dattaraj Gaonkar’s powerful shot from outside the box was parried away by the goalkeeper.
As the match entered its closing stages, Khosla’s well-timed finish widened the gap, leaving Sporting with an uphill task.
Venkatachalam’s late goal offered a glimmer of hope, but it was too little too late.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/10-man-diamond-harbour-finish-strong-against-sporting-clube/articleshow/117866501.cms