Shillong, Aug 24: Meghalaya Police produced a strong comeback performance to defeat Sawmer 4-2 in a thrilling Shillong Premier League 2026 encounter at the SSA Stadium here on Monday.
Sawmer took the lead twice in the opening 11 minutes through Diego Khyriem (2’) and Banteilang Lyngdoh (11’), but Meghalaya Police responded each time before taking control of the contest in the second half.
Pynshaidor Nongrang (5’) and Rapborlang Marwein (15’) scored the first-half goals for Meghalaya Police, before Bikram Chettri (67’) and Pynshailang L Lyngkhoi (84’) completed the comeback.
Both teams entered the match on the back of 2-1 victories. Sawmer had defeated Rangdajied United on August 4, while Meghalaya Police had beaten Langsning on August 18.
Meghalaya Police retained the same starting line-up from their previous victory, while Sawmer made three changes, bringing in Diego A Khyriem, Enestar Malngiang and Michaelson Kurbah in place of Oresterwell Langshiang, Andy Z Mawthoh and Wanshanlang Dkhar.
The match exploded into life from the opening whistle, with four goals coming inside the first 15 minutes.
Diego, who had missed Sawmer’s opening two matches, made an immediate impact on his return, finding the net in the second minute to give Sawmer an early advantage.
Meghalaya Police responded just three minutes later when Pynshaidor restored parity.
Sawmer regained the lead in the 11th minute through Banteilang, who made no mistake with his second attempt after seeing his first effort saved following a one-on-one situation with MLP goalkeeper Eveningstar Bareh.
The advantage lasted only four minutes, however, as Rapborlang produced a superb long-range strike in the 15th minute that went in off the post to make it 2-2.
The frantic opening spell eventually gave way to a more settled contest. Sawmer thought they had regained the lead in the 36th minute when Banteilang found the net again, but the goal was ruled out for offside.
MLP came close to taking the lead shortly after the restart when Pynshaidor’s effort struck the crossbar before bouncing down, with Sawmer goalkeeper Pyrshangbanbha Dkhar quickly gathering the ball.
Pyrshang then produced another good save to deny Rapborlang from a corner, but he was powerless to prevent MLP from taking the lead from the resulting pressure.
In the 67th minute, Bikram rose above the Sawmer defence to head home from a corner and put Meghalaya Police ahead for the first time in the match.
Sawmer pushed for an equaliser, with Pyrshang getting his fingertips to another MLP effort in the 73rd minute.
However, defensive errors eventually proved costly for Sawmer. A poor back pass created confusion at the back and the ball was not cleared, allowing Pynshailang to tap home in the 84th minute and seal all three points for Meghalaya Police.
The result saw MLP complete a memorable comeback after twice falling behind, while Sawmer were left to rue their inability to protect their early leads.
In the next SPL 2026 fixture, Laitkor will face Nangkiew Irat at 3:40pm on Tuesday. Laitkor have three points from two matches, while Nangkiew Irat have one point and are still searching for their first win of the season.
