Army set final clash with police

SOURCE: REPUBLICA

POKHARA, Feb 4: Nepal Army Club set up the final clash with Nepal Police Club as they defeated New Road Team (NRT) 2-1 on Thursday in the last semifinal of the ongoing Aaha Gold Cup Football Tournament held at the Pokhara Stadium.

Bikarna Shrestha, who was declared man-of-the-match, scored both the goals for the army in the first half while the only goal for NRT came from Shayan Moshavi, a Danish national, in the same half.

In the competitive match, army took an early lead in the sixth minute through a header of Bikarna from the box in a pass supplied by Bishwabairag Samal.

The NRT made an attempt to bounce back in the match and equaled the score in the 24th minute through Shayan.

However, they were unable to hold the army in 1-1 draw for long as Bikarna struck again for the army eight minutes later to double the lead. Bikarna sent the ball past net after NRT goalie Tulsi Baju moved forward to handle the ball.

NRT squandered two good chances of scoring in the entire match after the goal went wide hitting goal post in one occasion and in other army goalie Gangaram Deuja headed to deny the ball from entering inside the net. The army too missed a few chances of scoring.

Despite the win, army coach Rajukaji Shakya remained dissatisfied with his side´s performance. “The players failed to play up to my expectations.” He also lauded the opponents´ performance. “NRT showed better performance than army, they played a technical game.”

NRT coach Diken Suwal said his team came under pressure after conceding an early goal.

The final will be held on Saturday.