KATHMANDU, Jan 5: Tribhuvan Army Club on Wednesday advanced to the semifinal of Tuborg Hetauda Second International Invitational Football Tournament defeating Sankata Club 2-0 in the match played at forestry ground in Hetauda. 

Nepali international striker Nawayu Shrestha and Deep Lama were on target for the departmental team's victory over the Kathmandu-based A-Division opponent.

Nawayug gave the breakthrough in the match five minutes before break. He flick headed  Suman Aryal's freekick to send the ball into the net leaving Sankata goalie Bishal Shrestha clueless. 

It was again Nawayug who set the momentum for the second goal. He set a pass to Deep and the latter's strike from outside the zone entered the net beyond the reach of diving goalie Bishal. 

Army midfielder Santosh Tamang was declaed the AFU man-of-the-match and awarded Rs 3000 for his feat. 

Despite the win, Army coach Nabin Neupane was not happy with his team's performance.

“Players are facing difficulty to play due to hectic tournament schedules in districts. They are not even getting minimum recovery time due to busy schedule,” Neupane said. He also suggested the organizers to hold tournament after gap of at least one week. 

Sankata coach Sailesh Karmacharya also pointed out hectic scheduled as the reason for poor show in the tournament. “The players have arrived to play in Hetauda a day after playing in Kakarbhitta, Jhapa. Thus they could not play to their potential,” Karmacharya said. 

 
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