India lose to Guayana 1-2 despite Dias strike

Georgetown: The Indian football team suffered their second successive defeat of the Caribbean tour when they went down 1-2 to Guyana in an international friendly at the National Stadium on Thursday.

Guyana took the lead through Vurlon Mills, while Steven Dias equalised for India before the break. Guyana scored the winner after the breather through Walter Moore. It was a hard-fought match with heavy downpour affecting the surface during the first half. However, it did not stop the two teams to display quality contest which delighted the fans in the stadium. Guyana, ranked 37 places above the Armando Colaco`s boys in the FIFA charts, surged ahead in the 19th minute through striker Mills who headed home a cross when the Indian defence was caught napping. Stung by the reverse, Team India pushed hard and equalised when Dias curled in a free-kick in the 36th minute to leave both the teams tied 1-1 at the interval. Changing over, Guyana combined well and the flurry of attacks kept the Indian defence busy. Their efforts eventually bore fruit in the 63rd minute when left-back Walter Moore chipped it over Subrata Paul to make it 2-1.India`s best chance came when Guyana were reduced to 10-men after Travis Henry was given marching orders for a rough tackle on Clifford Miranda. But India could not utilise the numerical advantage as Guyana managed to hold on to the lead. In their first friendly, India had lost 0-3 to Trinidad and Tobago on Monday at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain. PTI