Police, Jawalakhel win with wide margin



source: REPUBLICA
Pic: republica

KATHMANDU, Dec 27: With a hat-trick from Jumanu Rai, Nepal Police Club hammered NIBL Friends Club 5-1 while Samsung Jawalakhel Youth Club routed Eastern Region 4-1 on Sunday in the ongoing British Gurkha Cup being held at the Dasharath Stadium.

With the win, the police team has almost made it through to the quarterfinals from group ´A´ accumulating six points from two matches played while Jawalakhel and Friends have three points apiece playing equal number of matches. Eastern are at the bottom of the table with no points in the same group. The teams still have a match to play each.

Making a good start with beautiful passes, Bharat Khawas put Friends ahead in the eighth minute but they could not continue with the same tune after that. Bharat made a spectacular header in the box in a cross of Sushil KC.

Coming in the tune, Police team skipper Ananta Thapa leveled the scoring in the 25th minute. Ananta utilized a free-kick off Rabin Shrestha inside the box out of mess. Likewise, national striker Jumanu Rai gave the team a 2-1 lead one minute before half time in a one-versus-one with goalkeeper Rupak Shrestha after Ananta fed him a superb pass inside the box controlling the ball with his chest.

Jumanu scored the other goals in the 68th and 74th minutes to complete his hat-trick before Chetan Ghimire sealed the victory in the 81st minute. Jumanu made a powerful strike from the box to score his second goal. Friends skipper Noor Raj Kafle´s bid to defend the ball from the goal line could not materialize as the ball entered the net despite hitting his leg.

Jumanu completed his hat-trick through a penalty after Deepak Gurung of Friends committed a handball inside the box. Jumanu did not make any mistake in sending the ball past the net.

Likewise, Chetan scored the last goal for the team with his solo effort from box after beating two opponent defenders. Earlier, Police squandered two good chances of scoring in the first half and in the second half also they missed a few chances. Likewise, Friends failed to utilize some good opportunities.

Police coach Birat Krishna Shrestha who earlier had portrayed the team as the title contenders said that the team got well set in the later part of the first half. Similarly, Friends coach Mrigendra Mishra said that his team lost due to some simple mistakes. “The players had problem in marking and in positions, besides this we also failed to repeat the first half´s performance in the second.”

Earlier, in the first match, Eastern Region´s miserable run continued in the tournament as they faced a second consecutive defeat at the hands of Samsung Jawalakhel Youth Club.

Jawalakhel, controlling the match from the beginning against the Eastern youngsters, had to wait until the 18th minute to open the scoring. Doran Sherchan opened the scoring before adding another in the 31st minute. Raj Kumar Ghising doubled the lead for the team in the 24th minute. The second half saw only one goal for Jawalakhel. Laxmi Shrestha scored from the box in the 54th minute utilizing a pass from Ajay Thapa Magar. Rojin Dhimal scored a consolation goal for Eastern in the 30th minute.

Jawalakhel coach Kishor KC was dissatisfied with the team´s performance despite the team´s victory. “Though we got the result in our favor, the team´s midfield is very weak and needs improvement.”

Eastern Region coach Darshan Bhakta Raj said despite loss the team succeeded in their mission. “Our mission was to give the team exposure and we succeeded in it.” Commenting on the match he said, “Though we had poor opponents, we lost because the players did not play well and they missed good opportunities.”

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