NRT, police start second leg campaign with victories


SOURCE: REPUBLICA

KATHMANDU, April 7: Leaders New Road Team (NRT) and defending champions Nepal Police Club started their second leg campaign with victories on Wednesday in the ongoing Martyrs Memorial San Miguel A Division League at the Dasharath Stadium.

NRT defeated last place Boys Union Club and the police edged past second from the bottom Sankata Kathmandu Mall Club with identical scores of 2-0 in the second leg of the league that kicked off Wednesday.

All the teams remained in their previous positions following the results. NRT, qualified for the AFC President´s Cup, retained first position with 27 points while the police are in second place with 26 points. Boys Union and Sankata are in the last and second last positions with five and six points respectively.

Jeevan Sinkeman netted a goal each in both halves in NRT´s victory. NRT had defeated Boys Union 3-2 in their first leg match. Sinkeman put NRT ahead in the seventh minute in a pass of defender Biraj Maharjan and doubled the advantage in the 70th minute.

NRT piled up consistent pressure and made a few impressive post attempts. But the spectacular display of goalie Suman Legal denied them from scoring twice. In the 44th minute, Nirajan Rayamajhi´s powerful strike from the box was brilliantly dived and punched by goalie Legal from the cross bar, and in the injury time of the first half he denied Laxman Ruchal´s shot.

Boys Union could make only one attempt near the target.

NRT coach Diken Suwal said that there were problems in midfielders of his side.

Boys Union coach Kumar Katuwal said that lack of experienced players, coordination and selfishness of the players cost them dear. He also hinted at bringing some foreign players in the squad.

In another match, the police opened their scoring in the 39th minute through penalty. Jumanu Rai converted after Sankata defender Kovid Karki committed a handball in the box in a strike made by Pradip Baniya of the police.

The second goal came from striker Chetan Ghimire in the 73rd minute. Ghimire scored capitalizing on a rebounder off Baniya that hit the bar.

Despite dominating the match in terms of ball possession, the police were unable to make impressive post attempts. “Our main strikers failed to perform well,” police coach Birat Krishna Shreshta said.

In the 56th minute, Rai failed to score in a free position while goalie Suman Legal had dropped the ball in a bid to dive and save it. But Rai was too late to hit as the goalie obstructed his way before he could direct the ball toward the post. Similarly, Ghimire´s first half injury time header went inches wide from the post.

Sankata could not make a single remarkable post attempt.

Brazilians in NRT

New Road Team (NRT) will field two Brazilian players in their squad from their next match. NRT already have a Danish striker Shayan Mosavi who has scored eight goals in their first leg.

Gabriel Da Silva, 25, who played from Churchill Brothers, the first division outfit of India in 2007 will play as striker from NRT. He played from a Caribbean first division club before arriving in Nepal.

Leandro Silva, 25, is a midfielder who was associated with a first division club of Faroe Islands, an autonomous state of Denmark. Silva also played from a Malaysian football club in 2005.

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