By I-League Media

Goa: The first semi-final of the Nike Premier Cup will see Royal Wahingdoh taking on United Sports Club as they aim to book their place in the final which will be held on April 29.

Royal Wahingdoh come into the game on the back of two wins and one draw with the draw coming against one of the favourites Minerva Academy FC. The Shillong-based club swept aside Mumbai FC with a 5-1 scoreline and also had a comfortable 4-2 win against Ozone Football Academy on their way to the semi-final.

“We have been preparing this team right from the day that we qualified into the final rounds. We expect ourselves to do a much better performance than what we have done. In fact, we had some hiccups against Minerva but we will give all out against United SC,” Wahingdoh coach BI Nongbet said on the eve of the match.

The coach also suggested that his team will have to be at their best going into Tuesday’s crucial match.

“Hopefully, we don’t want to be complacent about United SC of course. They beat a very good team of Aizawl FC and they are a good team also. So it will be a tight match. We are thankfully having a full strength squad and we are hoping for a favourable result,” Nongbet suggested.

Their semi-final opponents United SC also come into the match with two wins and one draw.

They started out with a goalless draw against Bengaluru FC before sweeping aside Goan club Sporting Clube de Goa 5-2 and sealing their spot in the semis with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Aizawl FC.

As far as United SC Nirmany Halder coach is concerned, playing on grass after playing the matches on astroturf was a bit of a concern.

“Any semi-final match is a tough match. After playing on astroturf, we now play on grass and so it is difficult to adjust”, Halder suggested.

The coach, however, added that there can be no excuses when they take to the field tomorrow and they are focussed on the task at hand.