Goals in either half by Royal Wahingdoh FC star striker Jackichand Singh against Pune FC earned three points for the hosts in a Hero I-League match at the JN Stadium here today.
India international Jacki struck in the 39th and 67th minutes to take his side back to the top three in the standings.
RWFC are now at 17 points from 10 games while Pune FC are at fourth with 16 points from equal number of matches.
The Royals started on a dominant note and could have gone ahead in the 2nd minute itself had not Lalmangaihsanga's free kick from outside the box hit the crossbar.
The Royals continued to dominate and Kim Song Yong found the nets in the 19th minute. However, an off side call given by the referee meant that sides were still at 0-0.
The Royals, however, were relentless in their efforts and 10 minutes later, a powerful Jackichand shot missed the top of the bar by a whisker as another chance went down.
The hosts' perseverance was finally rewarded in the 39th minute. Jacki was fed by Lammangaihsanga and the little striker from Manipur made no mistake to take the hosts ahead.
Lalmangaihsanga cut one back for Jacki from the left following which the India striker beat the Pune defence with his touch and fired a low shot past rival custodian Arup Debnath to send the crowd into raptures.
Crossing over, the Royals looked determined to extend the lead and they succeeded again when a through ball found Jackichand unmanned at 10-15 yards outside the box. With only the goalie to beat, Jacki made no mistake to tap the ball in to beat a side which had only lost one game in the I-League before this one.
