Eight minutes into Wednesday’s match at the Golden Jubilee Outdoor Stadium in Yupia, Kevisanyu Peseyie found the opening Monyul FC needed. Facing a United Kurung FC side that had also won its first two matches of the 2026 Indrajit Namchoom Arunachal League, the forward from Jotsoma, Nagaland, put his team ahead early and then struck again in the second half to set up a 3-1 victory on October 21.
That brace took Peseyie’s tally to four goals in three appearances, placing him at the top of the league’s scoring chart. It also kept Monyul FC alone in first place with a maximum nine points from their opening three fixtures.
For watchers of regional football in the Northeast, Peseyie’s output in Arunachal Pradesh is part of a clear pattern rather than a sudden surprise. Over the past two years, the former midfielder has finished as the top scorer in I-League 3 with Karbi Anglong Morning Star FC, won the Golden Ball as the best overall player in the inaugural Nagaland Super League with Barak FC, and claimed the Golden Boot in Kohima’s Atuo Mezhür Sekhose Super League with Sechü Zubza FC just two months ago. After spells in youth leagues, university football, the Calcutta Football League, and Thailand’s third division, he has brought that experience to Yupia as Monyul FC set the early pace.
Setting the early pace with Monyul FC
Monyul FC could scarcely have asked for a cleaner start to their league campaign. They opened the season with a 3-0 win over Siang Warriors FC, followed that result with a 2-0 victory over Namsai FC, and then beat United Kurung FC 3-1 in the third round. Those three wins have given Monyul nine points, eight goals scored, only one goal conceded, and a goal difference of +7 at the top of the official Indrajit Namchoom Arunachal League table.
Peseyie has been on the scoresheet in all three victories. In the opener against Siang Warriors FC, he scored Monyul’s third goal in the 73rd minute to wrap up the 3-0 result. Against Namsai FC, he broke the deadlock from the penalty spot in the 52nd minute on the way to a 2-0 win.
Wednesday’s meeting with United Kurung FC offered a stiffer test. United Kurung arrived in Yupia with two wins of their own and a free-scoring attack, and they still sit second in the standings on six points with a +7 goal difference. Peseyie’s eighth-minute opener gave Monyul early control, and he doubled the advantage after half-time. Official INAL match page lists the strike in the 61st minute, before Lapunge made it 3-0 in the 75th minute and Kanu pulled one back for United Kurung six minutes later.
Peseyie’s four goals, including one penalty, put him one ahead of United Kurung’s Fabeel TP, who has three. United Kurung’s Arshad A and Subansiri United FC’s Bonison Nongmaithem sit next in the chart with two goals apiece.
Three matches represent only a small slice of the season. Even so, scoring in every outing so far has given Monyul FC a reliable finisher at the sharp end of the pitch while turning a strong team start into an early lead in the Golden Boot race.
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The tactical switch that turned a midfielder into a goalscorer
What makes Peseyie’s recent scoring record stand out is that he did not spend his formative years playing as an out-and-out striker. For most of his career, he preferred operating in midfield and was also used at right-back when coaches needed cover across the pitch, as he explained in a 2025 interview with Eastern Mirror.
That positional flexibility took an unexpected turn in 2024 when a phone call from the manager of Karbi Anglong Morning Star FC brought him to Diphu, Assam, for the I-League 3 campaign. Instead of keeping him in the middle of the park, his coach at KAMS FC deployed him up front as a false nine and striker. It was a role Peseyie admitted he had not expected to play.
The switch produced the biggest breakthrough of his club career to that point. Playing at the tip of the attack, Peseyie scored eight goals in six appearances during the 2024 I-League 3 season and finished as the competition’s leading scorer. His goals helped power a strong run for Karbi Anglong Morning Star FC, and the club went on to earn promotion to I-League 2 in 2025.
Moving from midfield into the forward line allowed Peseyie to combine his habit of linking play with an instinct for arriving in the penalty area at the right time. In his conversation with Eastern Mirror, he noted that his I-League 3 form brought offers from I-League 2 sides and other I-League clubs.
At the same time, he spoke openly about wanting to play in a league closer to home, in front of his own people in the Northeast. That choice shaped the next two years of his career in Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh.
Silverware and individual honours back home in Nagaland
When the inaugural Nagaland Super League kicked off in 2025, Peseyie got the chance to compete in a flagship state league on home soil with Barak FC. Barak went all the way to the title, and at the league’s first awards night in Jotsoma, Peseyie was named the winner of the Golden Ball as the tournament’s best overall player.
That prize recognised his all-round influence rather than goal totals alone. His Barak FC teammate Toka Achumi won the league’s Golden Boot after scoring 13 goals, while goalkeeper Dziesengulie Kire claimed the Golden Glove. Together, those honours reflected how well Barak FC functioned as a unit throughout the debut season.
In a Q&A with Football First Report, Peseyie pointed to the semifinal against Nagaland United SC as his favourite match of the campaign. The tie went to a penalty shootout in front of thousands of supporters in the stadium and watching online, and Peseyie stepped up to convert a high-pressure spot-kick.
Looking back on the Golden Ball, he downplayed personal praise and stressed Barak FC’s unity. Football, he noted, is played on grass with 11 players, meaning 10 teammates are there to support you, and the main goal is always to win together.
He also credited the professional standards of the Nagaland Super League for helping local players grow. During the season, Barak FC trained almost every day except Sunday, putting in two-to-three-hour pitch sessions followed by ice baths, gym work for strength and conditioning, and pool recovery sessions.
His next piece of individual silverware arrived in August 2026, this time for his finishing. Representing Sechü Zubza FC in the inaugural Atuo Mezhür Sekhose Super League at Indira Gandhi Stadium in Kohima, Peseyie won the tournament’s Golden Boot.
His scoring touch showed throughout the competition. On August 22, in the final match of the league stage against Mez & Co, he scored a hat-trick in a 3-1 win that gave Sechü Zubza FC four victories from four games and first place in the standings.
One week later, on August 29, Sechü Zubza FC faced Mez & Co again in the final. After Mez & Co took an early lead, Peseyie pulled his side level in the 35th minute. With the match locked at 1-1 after regular time, he struck again in the 93rd minute to put Sechü Zubza ahead in extra time, before Kekhrieletuo Tsira added a late third goal to seal a 3-1 victory and complete a double of the league title and the Champions Cup. Peseyie took home the Golden Boot.
That tournament in Kohima ended less than seven weeks before Monyul FC began their Arunachal League campaign. Peseyie arrived in Yupia in sharp scoring rhythm, and his four goals in three games for Monyul have extended a productive spell that began back in August.
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From Jotsoma to Delhi, Kolkata, and Bangkok
Behind Peseyie’s recent trophies sits a long apprenticeship that took him far from Nagaland before bringing him back to the region. Growing up in Jotsoma, a village near Kohima, he fell in love with football around the age of five or six. In his interviews, he remembered playing with childhood friends on small, muddy fields, kicking improvised balls made out of rags or plastic bottles.
After starting school in Jotsoma, Peseyie moved to Greenwood Higher Secondary School, where he earned selection for the under-14 Subroto Mukherjee International Football Tournament. In 2016, he left Nagaland for New Delhi to pursue higher education at Zakir Husain Delhi College under the University of Delhi.
His years in the capital combined college studies with competitive youth and senior football. He joined the youth setup at Delhi United FC and played in the Hero I-League U-18 tournament, while also helping his college team win the national title in the Reliance Foundation Youth Sports competition. He then spent two seasons playing for Delhi FC in the Delhi State League.
In 2023, Peseyie broadened his football education in two very different environments. First, he travelled to Kolkata to compete in the historic Calcutta Football League. Later that same year, he earned a short stint abroad in Thailand, representing Siam FC Bangkok in Thai League 3. Although his time in Thailand was brief, he described it as a rewarding experience that exposed him to a different football culture before he returned to India.
Alongside his club travels, Peseyie has regularly represented his home state and district. He has played for Nagaland in the Santosh Trophy and captained the state side to a bronze medal at the 2024 North East Games. At district level, he captained Kohima in the 24th Dr. T. Ao Inter-District Football Championship in August 2025, scoring from midfield in the 49th minute of a 3-0 opening-day victory over Tseminyu at Indira Gandhi Stadium.
Having come through village pitches, school tournaments, and out-of-state academies, Peseyie has spoken thoughtfully about what young footballers in Nagaland need if they want to build a career in the sport. In his conversation with Eastern Mirror, he pointed to the importance of formal academies, age-appropriate coaching, and strong backing from parents, teachers, and coaches, comparing football education to school grades where a student cannot jump straight to Standard 5 without completing the earlier levels first.
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What the Arunachal League means for Monyul FC’s campaign
The stage where Peseyie is currently plying his trade is part of a growing circuit of state leagues across Northeast India. Now in its second season in 2026, the Indrajit Namchoom Arunachal League brings 10 clubs from across Arunachal Pradesh together under the floodlights at the Golden Jubilee Outdoor Stadium in Yupia.
According to the competition format set out on the official INAL website, every team plays the other nine clubs once during a 45-match league phase. The top eight sides advance to a second phase split into two seeded groups of four, while the ninth- and tenth-placed teams are eliminated. From those two four-team groups, the winners and runners-up move into the semifinals ahead of the championship final in December.
That format explains why Monyul FC’s three-match winning streak matters, while also keeping it in perspective. Taking nine points from a possible nine, including a head-to-head win over second-placed United Kurung FC, puts Monyul in a strong position to secure a high seed for the second phase. At the same time, six matches remain in the opening league stage before the top eight are reset into groups.
For Monyul FC to turn their fast start into a sustained title challenge, they will need to keep picking up points through the middle weeks of the league stage. Peseyie’s finishing has given them an early edge in that chase.
A player who spent years working as a midfielder and utility defender before discovering his scoring touch in I-League 3 has carried his form from Diphu and Kohima into Yupia. Three games into the Arunachal League season, Monyul FC have three wins, and Kevisanyu Peseyie is once again setting the pace in front of goal.
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