The first ever team from the north east in the I-League shocked Mumbai's Air India in a fourth round match as they ran out winners with the goals coming from Daniel Bedemi, Seikhohao Tuboi and James Gbilee.
The home side got off to a flying start as Nigerian defender Daniel Bedemi gave them the lead after converting a Marlangki Suting cross.
Lajong were clearly the superior team and close to the half an hour mark they doubled their advantage when Seikhohau Tuboi went past three Air India defenders and slotted the ball past goalkeeper Arnab Das Sharma.
Air India didn’t really get things going in the first half as Lajong went into the halftime break with a comfortable two goal lead.
Stanley Rosario reverted to defensive tactics in the second period to protect the two goal advantage.
That allowed Air India to comeback in the game and they did have a couple of good chances but couldn’t covert them.
The game was put to bed in the 76th minute when James Gbilee rounded off his solo run with a lob over Das Sharma to bag Lajong’s third.
Lajong’s emphatic win lifts them up to fifth place and also send out a message to the rest of the league that how difficult it will be to get a result at Shillong’s Nehru Stadium.
While Air India suffered their first defeat of the season but they have a series of home matches to follow where they traditionally do very well.
Goalscorers: Daniel Bedemi (Shillong Lajong) 1', Seikhohau Tuboi (Shillong Lajong) 30', James Gbilee (Shillong Lajong) 76'
Goal.com India
From the archive. First published on footballkerala.com on Monday 19 October 2009, restored from the site's 2012 database. Text as originally published.