U-18 Y-League: Shillong Lajong dominate Kerala Blasters to lift the title
Shillong Lajong were crowned the U18 Y-League Champions as they registered a comfortable 2-0 win over Kerala Blasters in the Final, on Saturday in the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Shillong.
Shillong Lajong came into the game with a 2-0 semi-final win over East Bengal, while the Blasters made it to the summit clash albeit a 2-1 win over Sports Authority of India (Eastern Zone).
Lajong got the game to a flying start, as the Reds took the lead in as early as the 4th minute when a throw-in ended up into the back of the net when Poulose tried to get the ball away from the danger zone.
Lajong kept on the offensive play as they created numerous chances in the initial twenty minutes, but squandered all of them. Blasters were struggling to keep in with Lajong's pacey play.
Lajong got into the break with a slender 1-0 lead courtesy their dominant performance in the first half.
Kerala Blasters put up a comparatively a better show in the second half as they exploited the Lajong Defence couple of times. Blasters came closest to scoring late in the second half when a belter of a shot from Pragyan went crashing on to the crossbar.
Afdal was clear on goal once, courtesy the Lajong Defence, caught napping but Chalieu came off his line and denied Blasters the equalizer.
Phrangki Buam (Shillong Lajong) and Suhaib (Kerala Blasters) were sent off in the additional time after a severe altercation leading into pushing and shoving.
Kynsailang Khongsit put the final nail on the coffin as he scored the second goal of the day in the additional time to hand Lajong the title.
Shillong Lajong ended the U18 Y-League 2018 campaign unbeaten, with ten wins and one draw. They conceded just three goals in the entire campaign and found the back of the net on 23 occasions. Lajong also have 8 clean-sheets to their name.