Another hat-trick for Babatunde

Nigerians exploits spur Rangdajied to facile win

Babatunde Ayomide struck his second hat-trick in as many matches as Rangdajied United FC overwhelmed Southern Samity 3-1 for an important win in their I-League Second Division, final leg clash at the Bangalore Football Stadium on Wednesday.

Rangdajied’s victory propelled them to the second spot with 16 points from nine matches behind league leaders Mohammedan Sporting (17 from eight) and ahead of Bhawanipore FC (13 from seven). Samity continued to languish at the bottom after their third loss with five points from nine matches.

Langsning beat Mumbai Tigers 3-1 in the first match with goals from Marlangki Suting (79th), Daniel Bidemi Ayeni (68th) and Nawab Zeeshan Rahaman’s own goal in the 73rd minute. Durga Boro (31st) struck the only goal for Tigers.

The Shillong club with 12 points from nine matches are in fourth while the Tigers tail them after another defeat with nine points from as many contests.

As the competition reaches the business end, Sporting lock horns with Bhawanipore in a Kolkata derby on Thursday with a lot at stake for either clubs, the former can seal their promotion to I-League proper and assure themselves of the Second Division title while the latter will stay afloat for a shot at the second position.

Babatunde was the toast of the second match with goals in the 17th, 41st and 86th minutes for Rangdajied while a Kaushik Biswas (26th) goal was the only saving grace for Samity.

The Nigerian striker instilled life into the match after a sluggish first 15 minutes when he ripped a header past Samity custodian Abhijit Das off captain Restom Khriam’s cross from the left in the 17th minute.

Samity have been caving in without much of a fight in most of their games but Biswas’ equaliser in the 26th minute showed their stomach for a fight on the day. The shot was taken inside the area from the right after Basanta Singh’s cross set up the match.

However, Samity’s hopes of taking the half-time break with the score on 1-1 were dashed in the 41st minute when Babatunde crashed in his second header -- this time a long pass from Thomas Saikhom through right.

Rangdajied finished the game off in the 86th minute and their most consistent striker, Babatunde, punched the final nail in Samity’s coffin. Babatunde converted a spot-kick awarded to the Meghalaya-based team after Korean striker Shin Hujon was felled inside the area by Avijit Das.

Samity ended a poor day with Shyam Mondal sent off in the 89th minute with a red card after showing dissent at referee Anthony Elvis’ decision on a foul.
DH News Service

Thursday’s match: Mohammedan Sporting vs Bhawanipore FC (2 pm).