Tribhuvan Army Club (TAC) soundly defeated Manang Marshyangdi Club (MMC) 2-1 while Armed Police Force (APF) played to an impressive 3-0 win against Machhindra Football Club (MFC) in the matches played in the ANFA Martyrs’ Memorial “A” Division League Football Tournament today at Dashrath Stadium today.
TAC started with a high tempo and attacked relentlessly around the goal-mouth of MMC. Ram Kumar Biswash could have scored in the 11th minute but his jumping header was denied by Nabin Neupane from the goal line. Then TAC could have celebrated in the 16th minute but right winger Shiva Choudhary missed another close chance. Finally, their relentless attack paid off in the 21st minute through skipper Janamat Karki. Karki put TAC ahead through a beautiful volley kick utilizing the pass off Raju Tamang, a national mid-fielder. The Army team took the lemon break up 1-0.
The real threat from MMC came from promising Sandeep Rai in the 49th minute but his shot hit the top bar. Then Chakra Tamang of TAC scored an unbelievable goal in the 54th minute utilizing the blunder of Bikash Malla. Malla went ahead to collect the ball from a defender but Tamang made a quick move and flicked the ball over the head of goalie, which rolled down slowly to kiss the net. MMC skipper Kumar Thapa finally scored a face saving goal in the 90+1 minutes with his solo effort.
Despite an impressive win, TAC stayed at the forth position with 31 points.
In the other game, Armed Police Force stepped up to fifth position with 25 points following an impressive 3-0 win against Machhindra FC.
APF rode the crest of skipper Jibesh Pandey, Dhanbir Chowdhary and super-sub Bhim Shrestha to thrash the Red Lion’s. Dhanbir Chowdhary found easy header in the 42nd minute when Ganesh Lawati set him a superb pass off Chandra Rana’s corner kick.
After the re-start, skipper Jibesh Pandey led his goal tally to 10 scoring an excellent header in the 66th minute off Man Sajan Rajbhandari’s cross. Super-sub Bhim Shrestha put the issue beyond doubt scoring in 90+2 minutes. Shrestha netted beautifully utilizing the left flank cross from Raghu Prajapati.