A Transport United defender tries to tackle Ratnam midfielder Tharusa Rangana (left) during their AFC President's Cup match in Lahore on Saturday. Photo by: AFC/Stanley Chou

LAHORE: After the demolition it suffered at the hands of Regar-TadAZ the other night, Bhutan's Transport United seemed to have redeemed itself quite substantively against Sri Lanka's Ratnam Sports Club before being condemned to a 6-1 defeat in the AFC President's Cup here on Saturday night.

The result was predictable, though for the best part of second session the Bhutanese club flattered to deceive by displaying uncharacteristic vim and vigour in trying to bring things to even keel after it had scored once to Ratnam's two goals in the first half.

But then four late strikes that gave Ratnam's forward Channa Edirabandange a superb tally of five on the trot rather brutally dashed those fond hopes.

Transport United have remained the whipping boys of the event because they are seriously under strength. With only 13 boys at his disposal, as his key players chose to stay home to take their exams, coach Nidup Dorjee’s options are limited to only two players on the bench.

This Transport United weakness was brought into sharp relief by Regar-TadAZ the other night when it hammered it with 13 goals, with Ratnam too taking full advantage of this flaw.

As the game commenced, Ratnam Sports Club seemed to be toying with the Transport United defence and the Sri Lankan club was soon amongst the goals, the first by Mohammad Rawme (13) and then another by Channa (16).

But then Transport United regrouped itself in the later stages of first half to make their first strike through forward Gyeltshen after conceding 15 goals in the 42nd minute. That brought some cheer to the hapless Bhutanese, and more importantly convinced them that aggression was a better ploy than hanging back in defence. And though it may not have brought them the desired result, a draw or a win, but it made the underdogs produce some attractive football.

For a while it looked more like a contest in the middle, but then Channa had other ideas. And once he got going, Transport United were reduced to absolute tatters. He slammed four more goals in the 69th, 72nd, 82nd and 90th minutes. An elated Ratnam coach Packeer Ali said: “I told my players to score as many goals as possible because goal difference could play an important role in deciding the semi-finalists from this group.” “We could not score more in the first half and initial stages of the second period because the players were in a hurry to score and mistimed passes.” Dorjee blamed the defeat on lapse in concentration of his players. “My players were playing good till midway into the second half but lapse in concentration saw us concede more.”