The result left Three Star unchanged in second position with 23 points, two points ahead of Army after playing 12 matches. Leader Jhapa has 24 points and has played one match more than Three Star and Army.Fresh from the victory over mighty Manang Marshyangdi Club in its last match, Army squandered an opportunity to beat Three Star despite taking the lead. Tek Bahadur Budathoki had put the departmental team in driving seat in the 25th minute. But skipper Sagar Thapa restored parity in the 38th minute with a freekick.
Tek Bahadur made a one touch strike in an acute cross from close range set by skipper Bharat Khawas. Sagar's freekick from 25 yards entered the post after the ball deflected on the wall and changed its course leaving goalie Bikesh Kutu stunned.
Three Star coach Rajendra Tamang said that his team needs to work very hard to win the league and added that Army and Three Star were the major contenders of the event. "Army however has upper hand than us since we are yet to face strong teams while Army is to play comparatively weaker sides," he said.
Army's remaining fixtures are against bottom four teams including Morang, FWFC, Lumbini and Police while Three Star is yet to play against leader Jhapa, Lumbini, Police and Manang.
"Though we had come with winning mentality against Army, we were cautious not to lose point," said Tamang, who has maintained the team's unbeaten run in the last eight matches. "We had created better scoring opportunities, but the boys failed to capitalize on them."
In the 52nd minute, African recruit Olawala Afeez's close range strike was caught by goalie Bikesh. In the 70th minute, Bikesh again came to the rescue for Army to foil Santosh Sahukhala's scorcher from the danger zone.
Army coach Meghraj KC pointed out that his side played at as slow pace in comparison to previous matches. "Three Star is a strong team and it was a fifty-fifty match," he said.
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