Racy K Lalremmawia scored the all-important goal for Lajong in the 75th minute from a fine cross after Sheffields custodian missed to guard. The win for Lajong against the worlds oldest football club also surprised many who thought that the match should have been very tough for the home team.
Lajong was reduced to ten men in the 83rd minute when one of its strikers was given red card in the spectacular match cheered by nearly 20,000 home crowds.
The young and energetic Sheffield had in fact gave a tough time to their opponents in the first half tough found it uneasy to acclimatise themselves playing in the hard surface ground and poor refereeing spoiling the accurateness of the match by giving unnecessary fouls on almost every physical contacts.
Sheffield which dominated the play in the first half had few good chances but thanks to the fantastic saves from Lajongs keeper Gumpe Rime.
In the 16th minute, the English side got a chance to lead but the target on goal from within the box hit the post.
The historical match could have been a 1-1 draw had the free kick been awarded to Sheffield was converted into goal in the final minute of the play.
Sheffield FC coach Chris Dolby who described the match against Lajong as ''competitive'', said, ''We are not complaining.. but the referee should have allowed more physical contacts for the flow of the game. Back in England, physical contact is part of the game, challenges in the box are accepted as long as it is clean and we scored goals playing that way.'' He however contended that the standard of refereeing could be different from one country to another so also in India.
Shillong Lajong coach Pradyum Reddy, who echoed Dolby's remarks on referring stressed on the need to improve the standard of refereeing. ''referees should also go abroad to see the physicality of the game and learnt from it,'' he said.
Sheffield that had participated in the Platinum Jubilee Cup in Kolkata, a tournament organised to commemorate Mohammedan Sporting's 75 years of existence, will leave for Guwahati
to play another friendly match against Assam XI at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium on November 18.
Sheffield also lost 0-1 to Kolkata giant Mohun Bagan Platinum Jubilee Cup in Kolkata on November 12.