A lone goal from skipper Ganesh Lawati in the stoppage time was enough for APF to beat another departmental team Nepal Police Club (NPC) 1-0 in the final. [break]
This is the first major title of APF, the youngest departmental team in the country, and second victory over NPC. Earlier, APF have defeated NPC 2-1 in the quarterfinal of club-level national football tournament held at Abu Khairani, Tanahau last year.
Along with the win, APF bagged a purse of Rs 101,000 while the runners up NPC took away Rs 50,000.
Lawati who was later declared man-of-the-match scored the decider utilizing a pass of Arjun Subba in the show dominated by APF throughout the match.
Happy after registering victory over NPC, APF coach Dilkaji Gurung said that they had fulfilled their dream of beating NPC. “We were successful in defeating NPC and proved ourselves a better team,” Gurung said, adding that they made history winning the first title in mofussil. “We have made a new record in mofussil as well.” NPC coach and former national team captain Hari Khadka, however, did not talk to the media.
Both the departmental teams squandered some scoring chances. NPC custodian Ritesh Thapa denied Nirajan Malla´s solo effort in the first-half. Likewise, Niraj Shrestha´s strike went wide in Lawati´s pass. Similarly, Bhola Silwal and Jumanu Rai´s attempt before the interval proved to be worthless.
Shekhar Limbu of RCT and Santosh Shrestha of APF jointly took the highest scorer award. They had scored three goals each. The best player award went to Niranan Malla of winning squad while Ritesh Thapa of NPC took home the best goalkeeper award.
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