Sanju Football Academy, Sombaria emerged as the champion of Sikkim Football Association (SFA) C Division Sikkim League 2019 played at Paljor Stadium in Gangtok on Tuesday.
It is an encouraging achievement for young players of Sanju FA to lift the champion’s title in the debut appearance in the State C Division League.
The academy has been established by an Indian international and professional footballer from Sikkim, Sanju Pradhan in his hometown, Sombaria mainly to provide better training, exposure and opportunity to footballers from rural parts of the State.
In a contesting final match of C Division played on Tuesday afternoon, Sanju FA defeated another strong team, Sikkim Boys in the tie-breaker to become the champion of the league.
The first half of the final match ended goalless draw. Both teams took neck and neck again in the second half but missed some good opportunities to convert into the lead.
Finally, Ingsha Subba scored the lead for Sanju FA in the 60th minute. In return, players of Sikkim Boys played their hearts out to bounce back into the match but missed some good chances to equalise the score and match was seems to be ended with same scoreline until King Lepcha scored the equaliser for Sikkim Boys in the injury time of the match.
In the tie-breaker through penalty shoot-out, Sanju FA players converted four shots into goals while Sikkim Boys managed to score just two goals from four shots. Finally, Sanju FA won the match by 5-3.
Along with finalists, Sanju FA and Sikkim Boys, Red Panda FC, Namchi and Brotherhood FC have also been promoted to the Sikkim Football Association (SFA) B Division Sikkim League 2020.
Sanju FA emerged as the topper of Group A and Red Panda FC stood on the second position in the group, while Sikkim Boys finished the league round of C division as topper of Group B and Brotherhood FC finished on the second position in Group B.