Imphal: Varney Kallon Kiatamba’s 43rd minute strike helped Neroca FC jump to the top of table as they edged past Gokulam FC 1-0 in a closely fought battle at the Khuman Lampak Stadium here on Sunday.
The victory took Neroca to 27 points, one more than Minerva Punjab after 14 games. Minerva has played two games less. Gokulam however remained at the bottom with just 10 points from 12 matches.
Both the sides came into the match on the back of consecutive victories but Gokulam’s game-plan received a jolt when Laldampuia limped off nine minutes into the match and had to be replaced with Kivi Zhimoni.
Gokulam had not even settled after that injury when Aryn Williams came close to scoring in the 25th minute, his shot was valiantly cleared by Mohammed Irshad. But signs of how dangerous the Australian could be had come just a minute earlier when Williams whizzled past the entire Gokulam defence to go one-on-one with goalkeeper Bilal Khan, but shot wide.
Al Ajmi struck the upright on the other side after Salman had set him through on goal for the Malabarians in the 28th minute. It was the visitor’s best chance on the afternoon and 15 minutes later Neroca broke the deadlock through Kiatamba.
Saran Singh’s corner was headed into goal by Gouramangi Singh, but Bilal fumbled with what should have a routine save for him and the ball fell to Liberian Kiatamba, who made no mistake from goalmouth-melee.
0-1 down but desperate to continue their winning momentum, Bino George’s boys went all-out in the second-half but to no avail. That it was not their day was clear when Al Ajmi struck the bar for a second time. His shot from the edge of the box beat Neroca goalkeeper Bishorjit but the post came in between as the home side breathed a sign of relief.