With a goal in either half, Army defeated New Road Team (NRT) 2-0 while RCT defeated minnow PLO Mitramilan Club of Dharan 3-1.[break]
The victory over NRT proved to be vital for the departmental team to keep afloat its hopes of a second-place finish as its archrival Nepal Police Club has already clinched the title with a match in hand.
After its victory in the last match of the eighth round, Army climbed two spots to fourth with 13 points, level on points with fifth-place Jawalakhel. Second-place Manang Marshyangdi Club (MMC) and third-place Himalayan Sherpa Club each have 16 points while champion Police has 20 points. All the teams are yet to play one match each. NRT dropped one spot to sixth with 11 points.
RCT with equal 10 points as that of Three Star climbed one spot to seventh, pushing the latter to eighth on the basis of goals superiority. Mitramilan remained at the bottom of the table with only one point in its kitty.
In the day´s late match, Army dominated the show and kept the opponent under consistent pressure throughout the match. Tek Bahadur Budhathoki put the departmental team in charge in the 28th minute with a well-placed header from the six-yard box in Tanka Basnet´s cross.
Ramesh Pun, a replacement for Hari Mahato on the hour mark, doubled the advantage in the 79th minute. In course of scoring his first league goal in his first league match, Pun beat advancing goalie Raju Yogi in a one-on-one position in an acute pass from Raju Tamang. Yogi replaced custodian Binay Shrestha from the beginning of the second half after the latter sustained thigh injury.
Army squandered nearly half-a-dozen scoring chances while NRT created only one scoring opportunity. Defender Mahendra Khawas headed away a goal-bound flick header from NRT´s Asim Jung Karki off Laxman Ruchal´s corner.
Army´s Mahato, Amrit Basnet, Tanka Basnet and Pun each missed a scoring chance. In the 86th minute, Tanka chipped in wide in a one-on-one with goalie Yogi. In the 77th minute, Pun´s header was punched by Yogi.
Seven minutes earlier, Subash Gurung had foiled Amrit´s attempt in an unattended post. In the 18th minute, Mahato failed to connect properly to a Tanka Basnet cross from close range.
During the post-match conference, Army coach Yogambar Suwal termed the match against NRT a vital one. "This match was the semifinal and the last match to be played against Himalayan Sherpa is the final. There was no good team coordination due to the absence of Nawayug Shrestha," Suwal said. Shrestha missed the match as he had received a second yellow card during Army´s last match.
Suwal´s counterpart Raju Shakya said that his side came under pressure due to mis-passes. "We had set the target of achieving clear win and be a contender for the second position but failed to achieve it," Shakya said.
In the day´s early kick-off, Ntolo Ngoumou, Resham Rana and Olawala O Afeez scored one goal each in RCT´s win over Mitramilan. Ashish Rai hit back a consolation goal for Mitramilan.
In a drab affair, Ngoumou opened the scoring in the 17th minute with his third league goal. Rana doubled the advantage in the 40th minute with his first goal in the league. Afeez made it 3-0 with his third league goal in the 62nd minute. Rai´s lone goal for Mitramilan came in the 64th minute.
Samsung Jawalakhel Youth Club will take on Caravan Sangam FC of Pokhara in Friday´s only match.
Budhathoki´s goal 100th of league
Nepal Army Club player Tek Bahadur Budhathoki scored the 100th goal of the league in Army´s 2-0 win over New Road Team (NRT). Midfielder Budhathoki´s first goal of the league in the 29th minute turned out to be the 100th goal of the league.
"I am happy that my team won the match and I scored the first goal. Besides this, the victory has kept us in the race for second place," the 24-year-old Army player told Republica when he knew that he had scored the 100th goal of the league.
Budhathoki has appeared in all eight matches played by Army in the current league. In the Martyrs Memorial League held some five months ago in the capital, Budhathoki had scored a goal against RCT.
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