Ngawang Dhendup and his boys suffered a major blow in its title-defending quest as they were handed a 1-2 defeat by Druk Lhayul FC at Changlimithang.
The newcomers seized the lead when a freekick from just beyond the area bounced off the crossbar and struck Kezang Jamtsho’s head in the 10th minute. Six minutes later, City had an opportunity to equalise when captain Tshering Dorji was hauled down around 25 yards from the goal. Dawa Tshering’s freekick, however, was overshot. At the half-hour mark, another freekick was awarded, and Dawa’s goal-bound effort had to be punched away by Tshering Dhendup. Five minutes later, City’s dispositioned defence was exposed on the other end, and Jigme Tshetrim doubled the lead. According to Ngawang, City’s two goals in the first half were due to a lack of concentration.
The league leaders were able to pull one back right after the break when Orgyen’s cornerkick found Bella, but since then City could not break Druk Lhayul’s stubborn defence. To make matters worse, Bella received his marching orders when he was controversially shown the second yellow in the 81st minute; a decision that might have an adverse impact on the fixtures to come.
Notwithstanding the outcome, boys in red had one of their top performances of the season with 76 percent possession of the ball and 19 out of 33 shots on target. In every metric save the one, they had outperformed their opponents on Sunday. Unfortunately for the defending champions, that one stat was the one mattered the most. But the boss insisted that the team is ever determined to comeback stronger. “Despite the dominance the boys are little bit unhappy but we can come[back] stronger.” he said. “This is football. Sometimes it happens. So we have to be prepared for this kind of results also”.
The result does not change the position at the top of the table at least until Tuesday when Paro plays High Quality Utd.
