Mumbai, Nov 29 (PTI) NEROCA FC beat Kenkre FC 1-0 to pick up their first away win of the I-League season at the Cooperage Stadium here on Tuesday.

Striker Jourdain Fletcher's thumping strike in the 57th minute won all three points for the Orange Brigade, who had as many as 11 shots on target in the entire match.

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NEROCA dominated possession right from the first whistle with the Uzbek midfield duo of Sardor Jakhonov and Mirjalol Kasimov pulling the strings in the middle of the park.

The Orange Brigade had their first attempt on target on seventh minute when youngster Tangva Ragui dispatched a shot from outside the box, which was well-caught by goalkeeper Padam Chettri.

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That turned out to be the only contribution of the game from the Kenkre custodian, as he had to be substituted for Tenzin Samdup in the 17th minute due to an injury.

The hosts' compact defence meant that NEROCA had to resort to long-range attempts to try and find the breakthrough. One such shot came at the half-hour mark as Kasimov tried his luck from 25 yards out but couldn't get enough bend on the ball as it sailed wide of the post.

The Orange Brigade finally unlocked the stubborn Kenkre defence in the 57th minute. Jakhonov slipped a perfectly-weighted pass to Fletcher on the overlap and the Jamaican took a touch before drilling it into the roof of the net with his left foot.

NEROCA maintained the same attacking intensity after taking the lead with Thomyo Shimray coming on to inject even more pace into the wings. The visitors exerted complete control in midfield, leaving Kenkre frustrated as they struggled to maintain possession.

The Mumbaikars, however, came close to finding an unlikely equaliser in the 80th minute as defender Kynsailang Khongsit made a darting run inside the box before releasing a strong shot, which was palmed away by goalkeeper Shubham Dhas.

The result saw NEROCA rise to seventh place in the standings with six points. Kenkre slipped to 10th position with four points from as many games.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)