Blues, Wahingdoh share spoils

Bengaluru, April 3: Royal Wahingdoh and Bengaluru FC fought hard for a dramatic 3-3 draw in the Hero I-League match that saw two pelties and plenty of excitement that kept the crowd on the edge here on Friday.

For Bengaluru, Robin Singh (39th), Shankar Sampangiraj (58th) and Joshua Walker (70th, pelty) scored while the visitors, twice in the lead, found their scorers in Kim Seong-Yong (15th, pelty), Godwin Franco (44th) and Reagan Singh (74th) as the teams picked up a point apiece.

The match witnessed plenty of drama and the end result was in suspense until the fil whistle. Wahingdoh, who had lost 0-4 at home when they last met Bengaluru, were keen on avenging the defeat and looked the better side for much of the game as they teased and tormented a shaky home defence.

On the other hand, Bengaluru kept their nerves and showed character to come back twice and even take a 3-2 lead only to see the visitors draw level. Though uble to domite their opponents, the Blues still created as many chances as their opponents, but the finish could have been sharper and precise.

The same could be said of Wahingdoh whose forwards were rather indulgent in taking pot shots at the Blues goal and the constant pressure they exerted bore them dividends.

There was no dearth of action in the first half that saw both teams having fair share of chances, but it was Wahingdoh who drew first blood via Korean import Kim Seong-Yong's pelty conversion after Joshua Walker, attempting to block a try by Bekay Bewar, was pelized for a handball.

Touched to the quick, the Blues swung into a furious onslaught and following a hectic goalmouth melee off a corner, Robin Singh got the last touch as the ball slid into the Wahingdoh net.

The cheers in the stands had hardly died down when the visitors regained the lead, this time by an opportunistic long shot from Franco after central defender John Johnson had conceded a deflection when stopping a fast, twisting run by Jackichand Singh.

Anxious to catch up, the Blues showed a lot of urgency in the second-half and eventually drew level when Shankar Sampangiraj, who had just then come off the bench, leapt high to head home Eugenson Lyngdoh's curling free-kick.

More drama unfolded as Wahingdoh goalkeeper Prem Kumar conceded a pelty as he hacked down Sean Rooney who had broken through on a long ball. Walker converted to give Blues a 3-2 advantage with still 20 minutes left in the game.

Four minutes later, Reagan Singh made it 3-3 for the visitors with a blistering right-footer after a speedy attack to keep the interest alive.

Both teams survived some anxious moments in the last quarter as also the three minutes of stoppage time as the long whistle came as a massive relief for the adversaries. IANS