118th IFA Shield: Mohammedan Sporting held to 1-1 draw by United Sikkim

Kolkata giants Mohammedan Sporting Club kicked-off their 118th IFA Shield campaign with a 1-1 draw against United Sikkim FC at the Barasat Municipal Stadium on Thursday afternoon.

The match came to life early on as Rakesh Masih gave Mohammedan Sporting an eighth minute lead off a header from an Ishfaq Ahmed corner, but the lead lasted only a couple of minutes as United Sikkim FC’s African recruit Oluwaunmi Somide Adelaja equalised for the 2nd Division I-League side.

Thereafter the match was mainly one-way traffic but United Sikkim FC’s goalkeeper Dibyendu Sarkar had an outstanding game as he denied Mohammedan Sporting on numerous occasions with the one-draw in the end being unfair on the Kolkata side, who dominated the game throughout.

MATCH STATS

Mohammedan Sporting Club 1-1 United Sikkim FC – Goals: 1-0 Rakesh Masih (8′), 1-1 Oluwaunmi Somide Adelaja (10′)

Mohammedan Sporting Club
Luis Xavier Baretto – R. Dhanarajan, Sandeep Sangha, Mehrajuddin Wadoo, Nirmal Chettri – Antony Soren, Ishfaq Ahmed (70′ Israil Gurung), Manish Maithani, Rakesh Masih, Syed Rahim Nabi – Ashim Biswas (85′ Josimar da Silva Martins)

United Sikkim FC
Dibyendu Sarkar – Amritpal Singh, Mayal Dok Lepcha (65′ Jiten Rai), James Lukram Singh, Sahensha Ansari, Sanjay Chettri, Irungbam Surkumar Singh, Nganingmi Shimran (58′ Nim Tshering Lepcha), Oluwaunmi Somide Adelaja, Sukhwinder Singh, Jeh Williamson (72′ Atinder Mani)

Referee
Subrata Barman