BARA, March 9: Bijay Youth Club, Hetauda on Wednesday stunned defending champion Tribhuvan Army Club on sudden death to enter the final of the Ruslan Seventh Simara Gold Cup being held at the Simara Stadium.
The winner was decided on sudden death as both the teams scored five goals through spot kick after playing a 1-1 draw in regular 90 minutes and added 20 minutes.
In the sudden death, Sunil BK scored the match winning goal for Bijay Youth after Army’s Santosh Tamang failed to score as his shot hit the goal post.
Earlier five players of both the teams scored their spot-kicks.
Jitendra Karki, Bharat Khawas, Rajin Dhimal, Deepak Gurung and goalkeeper Bikesh Kuthu had scored for Army while Sunil Bal, Sanjay Raj Bahak, Bhupal Gurung, Rabi Bhandari and Bishwa Adhikari netted for Bijay Youth forcing the match to be decided on sudden death.
During the regular time, Army took an early lead in the 10th minute through penalty.
Jitendra Karki had scored the goal for Army from the spot after Manoj Bista of Bijay Youth fouled Tanka Basnet of Army.
However, Army failed to keep the lead as it conceded a goal in the dying moments of the match. Bimal Rana netted the equalizer in the 87th minute to keep the excitement of the match alive in front of nearly 4,000 spectators. Bimal scored the goal beating Army defenders.
Bijay Youth had created a number of goal-scoring chances after conceding the early goal but failed to convert them, while Army, which looked dominant in the match, also wasted some chances in the first half.
After the interval, Bijay Youth had a golden opportunity to level the match in the 58th minute but Rabi Bhandari, despite beating Army goalkeeper Bikesh, failed to score as Army’s Hiranya Magar cleared the ball from the goal line.
Both the teams also wasted other goal-scoring chances that forced the match to be decided through spot kicks.
After the defeat, Army coach Meghraj KC said that his side failed to win the match after failing to control the match despite taking the early lead.
“We also wasted a number of chances to extend the lead,” he said.
His counterpart Subin Ghimire said that his team’s performance was praiseworthy.
“I praise the spirit of our players and the way they played against the team like Army,” said Ghimire.
In the second semifinal, Rupandehi XI will meet Birgunj United on Thursday.
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