New Road Team (NRT) put a dent to the hopes of defending champions Nabil Three Star Club (NTSC) winning the league, beating them 2-0 while Boys Union Club (BUC) beat Machhindra Football Club (MFC) 3-2 today in the ANFA Martyrs’ Memorial “A” Division League Football Tournament matches played at Dashrath stadium.
Raju Shakya’s men brought NTSC’s vigor to halt and dominated throughout the match utilizing the advantage of suspension of NTSC’s regular players Janak Singh, Santosh Gurung and Pralaya Rajbhandari.
NRT seemed unstoppable from the start and struck in the 26th minute. Naresh Shrestha fired home an easy goal when he found the cross off Sunil Subedi. NRT could have doubled the tally in the 31st minute but former NTSC man Ramesh Sinkman wasted a beautiful chance shooting wide off the target when he was one-versus-one with veteran goalie Upendra Man Singh.
The real threat from NTSC was from promising Anil Gurung in the 33rd minute but his flying header was just wide off the target. Pradeep Mahrjan tried hard in the 38th minute but his right-footed shot unfortunately hit the side pole.
After the re-start, Surendra Tamang nearly restored parity but his bullet shot was saved by NRT goalie Surendra Lal Shrestha, a former national goalie.
There was a twist in the 90+4 minute when skipper-cum goalie Upendra Man Singh blocked Sunil Subedi’s shot outside the box, but the ball rolled into the net. The match referee cautioned him with yellow and allowed the goal.
“If that wasn’t goal, I would have flashed out red for Singh,” referee Gyani Raja Shrestha told SoccerAgeNepal when asked about the decision. NRT coach Raju Shakya said, “I am real happy today and my boys did a good-job.”
Despite the lost, NTSC is currently in second position with 31 points, having played one more game than Manang Marshyangdi Club (MMC) and Mahendra Police Club (MPC). MMC and MPC are locking horns tomorrow to separate the positions of trio titans.
Earlier, minnows Boys Union Club rode the crest of East Bengal recruits Abiodum Gbengalawal and EKE Albert to put the Red Lions (MFC) aside 3-2. Abiodum struck twice while Utsav KC scored another to ensure a hard-fought victory for BUC. Deepak Rai and Bikash Subba scored for MFC to close the goal margin.