Josco FC (in blue) take on Malabar United in Jamshedpur on Monday. Picture by Bhola Prasad

Jamshedpur, April 18: A better goal difference helped Ar-Hima make its way into the AIFF second division Super League today.

The Meghalaya outfit joined Calcutta-based Md Sporting at the tourney that will be held in Shillong later this month. The latter topped the table with 14 points.

Ar-Hima elbowed out strong contenders like Josco Football Club and Kenkre FC. All the three teams had finished with 10 points each after playing six matches, but Ar-Hima qualified for the next stage as it conceded less number of goals in the matches played here.

The Meghalaya side scored 15 goals and conceded 10, while Kenkre pulled in as many goals but conceded 12 and Kerala’s Josco scored 12 goals but conceded 11.

They posted wins against Danzong Boys Club (4-2), Kenkre (4-1) and Sesa Goa (5-2) and lost versus Md Sporting (0-2) and Josco (1-2). Malabar United held the Meghalaya boys to a 1-1 draw.

Kenkre posted wins over Josco (3-0), Sesa Goa (3-2) and Danjong Boys (7-2) and were defeated by Ar-Hima (1-4) and Md Sporting by a similar margin. The Maharashtra team played a goalless draw against Malabar United.

Josco gained success by shocking Ar-Hima (2-1) and thrashing Sesa Goa (4-1). The team finished its engagement today with a (2-1) win over Malabar United. The outfit lost (1-2) to Md Sporting and (0-3) to Kenkre before playing a (3-2) draw versus Danzong Boys Club.

Josco, which was desperate to win with a big margin to keep its super league qualification hopes alive, came across a spirited Malabar United in the tournament’s last match at Keenan Stadium today.

The match rolled on with tempers running high. Josco made its intention clear by pulling in two goals in the first half. Daison Devadas converted a cross with a header in the 19th minute while Jeribe Kelechi made it (2-0) with a grounder in the 23rd minute.

But Malabar managed to pull one back via Nwokwu Michael in the 56th minute. Thereafter, it was apparently a free-for-all situation, which culminated in five yellow and two red cards.

Needless to say, Josco players were today’s villains according to Gujarat-based referee Vishnu Chauhan

Sajith T and Sreenadh T.K. were given marching orders by the referee after being cautioned twice.