Bikarna Shrestha scored the winner for the departmental team in the second minute of the 15-minute extra time. Earlier, the regulation time had ended in a 2-2 draw with Prakash Budhathoki netting twice for the home team and Tek Bahadur Budhathoki scoring both the goals for Army.[break]
This is the second time that Army has reached the final of the tournament. Earlier, Army has entered the final in the 11th edition of the tournament in 2065 BS. Army was defeated by Three Star Club then.
Army will face either national champion Three Star or Hong Kong Nepalese Federation (HKNF) in the final on Saturday. The second semifinal between Three Star and HKNF is taking place on Thursday.
Dharan, studded with several A division players, including three foreign recruits, and backed by a huge home crowd, took an early lead through Prakash Budhathoki. Budhathoki, who plays for Friends Club in the top-tier domestic football, scored in the 16th minute with a spectacular strike from 20 yards after exchanging passes with Bikram Limbu.
Tek Bahadur cancelled the home team´s lead in the injury time of first half. He then made it 2-1 for the departmental team in the 61st minute with a brilliant strike from outside the area in Raju Tamang´s pass.
But man-of-the-match Prakash scored for Dharan again seven minutes later with a lob over advancing Army custodian Ganga Ram Deuja after receiving a pass from Deepak Rai.
Bikarna Shrestha scored the winning goal for Army in the second minute of extra time. Shrestha collected a freekick by Raju Tamang in the area and fired home the winner to steer his team into the final.
In the competitive match, both Army and Dharan wasted several scoring chances. Deepak Rai, Prakash and Shekhar Limbu of Dharan squandered scoring chances in the early moments of the match.
Likewise, Bharat Khawas, Raju Tamang, Santosh Nepali and Tek Bahadur also missed some chances for the departmental team.
Army coach Saila Maharjan expressed satisfaction over his side´s performance. "It was a 50/50 match. It was difficult to play against Dharan on their home ground," Maharjan said.
Dharan´s coach Sagar Ghimire said missed chances in the early moments of the first half proved costly for the team. "Though we put up a good performance, there were weaknesses in finishing," said Ghimire, adding that opponent team was in it best form.
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