In a drab affair between two teams of Lalitpur, Azad Pradhan gave an early lead to Friends Club and Nirajan Khadka sealed the victory adding another during the stoppage time.
Azad opened the scoring through a quick move in the 16th minute, utilizing a corner kick of Pukar Gahatraj after the opponent defenders failed to clear the ball inside the box. Likewise, the second goal came in the first minute of the stoppage time of the second half. Nirajan headed home Azad´s corner kick to confirm full three points in their kitty.
Earlier, in the first half Friends dominated the match and made few post attempts while Jawalakhel looked helpless. However, Jawalakhel made a couple of post attempts but all in vain.
Bharat Khawas´s powerful grass shot in Sushil KC´s cross went wide off the post in the 25th minute for Friends and four minutes later his solo attempt was denied by Jawalakhel´s custodian Min Bahadur Basnet.
Prabin Manandhar´s header in a corner kick pass for Jawalakhel was saved by Friends goalie Rupak Shrestha in the 37th minute, and two minutes later Sunil Raut´s grass shot from inside the box after beating three Friends defenders went wide.
The Jawalakhel team studded with new faces came up with a comparatively better performance against their rivals with some national players - Deepak Bhusal, Nirajan Khadka and Bharat Khawas.
Raj Kumar Ghising´s volley from about 30 yards was denied by custodian Min Bahadur in the 65th minute and three minutes later they again foiled Jawalakhel´s chance of equalizing the match. Jaghu Nath Khadka´s header from the box in Raj Kumar´s pass was blocked by the goalie and Prabin failed to direct the rebounder towards the post as his shot from close range went wide.
In the 74th minute Jawalakhel were limited to 10 men after Prabin was booked with the second yellow card of the match for his foul. Earlier he was shown card in the 48th minute.
Despite winning the match Friends coach Mrigendra Mishra was disappointed with the team´s performance. “I am not happy with the team´s performance though we won the match,” Mrigendra said, adding, “The players made mistakes in midfield, cross pass and positions.”
Furious Jawalakhel coach Kishor KC said that his team played a stupid game. “My players failed to utilize several good opportunities and we started training only a few days back,” Kishor said.
Yogesh, Deepen barred from BG Cup
Nepal Police Club (NPC) player duo Deepen Shrestha and Yogesh Shrestha have been barred from playing the British Gurkha (BG) Cup Football Tournament as they have been denied by NPC to play from the club they are registered with.
As per the regulations of the All Nepal Football Association (ANFA), players need to play from the same club where they were registered during 2006/07. The duo who was enrolled into police earlier this year were the professional footballers of Jawalakhel Club during 2006/07. They will also not be eligible to play from NPC in the ´A´ division league to be held from February 12.
The duo will not be punished despite not playing from the club they are registered with, stated ANFA. “They will not be punished if they don´t play from the club they are registered with. However, they won´t be eligible to play from any club other than they are registered with,” said ANFA spokesperson Lalit Krishna Shrestha.
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