Santosh Nepali hit back the equalizer for Army during stoppage time to put a brake on Jawalakhel´s bid to extend its winning run to five matches. Nepali hit a powerful shot from the arch of the box to earn a point for the departmental team that has been eyeing its second victory in the league.[break]
Earlier, Laxminath Shrestha had given a 53rd minute lead to Jawalakhel in the match affected by heavy downpour. An unmarked Shrestha headed home from the box in a cross of Kenyan striker Gerard Mukonza.
Following the draw, Jawalakhel remained unchanged in second position with 13 points in its kitty, behind Laxmi Hyundai Manang Marshyangdi Club (MMC) who beat Machhindra Club 3-0 earlier in the day. Despite having equal points as that of Jawalakhel, MMC leads the table on the basis of goals superiority. A victory could have put Jawalakhel on top of the standings.
Army also remained unchanged in 10th position with five points while Machhindra is three places behind Army with two points.
In the competitive match, both Army and Jawalakhel crafted some attractive moves. In the 21st minute, Tek Bahadur Budhathoki´s strike in Tanka Basnet´s pass sailed high above the bar. Two minutes later, Jawalakhel replied to Army´s attack when Thomas Wangira Biket´s powerful free-kick from near the center went out hitting the crossbar.
In the 39th minute, Nawayug Shrestha´s feeble acrobatic shot from close range was denied by Jawalakhel custodian Dinesh Thapa. Six minutes later, Bishal Rai´s (Jersey No 9) header from his namesake´s pass sailed inches above the bar of Army´s post. A minute later Army glovesman Bikash Malla made a brilliant save when he blocked a close-range shot from Mukonza.
Army coach Dambar Singh Gurung said that his team was slowly gaining momentum. He also lamented the lack of strikers. “Strikers Bikarna Shreshta and Deep Lama could not play today due to injuries and I had to test defender Ram Kumar Biswas in the forward line-up,” Gurung said. Gurung´s counterpart Kishor KC said that he was satisfied with the team´s performance.
In the earlier kick-off of the day, South Korean coach Lee Tae-Ho achieved victory in his first match in charge of MMC as Santosh Sahukhala netted twice after Anil Gurung had put the team ahead. Gurung opened the scoring for MMC three minutes before the interval to stun Machhindra goalie Ibrahim Bashir. Gurung made a diving header near the goalline in the goalie´s rebounder off Bijay Gurung´s shot. Sahukhala doubled the scoring two minutes into the second half through penalty after Bobby handled the ball in the box in a bid to defend Sahukhala´s strike.
Sahukhala, who had previously scored five goals in the league, scored his second goal on 55 minutes to take his tally to seven goals. He is now the second highest scorer after Jumanu Rai of Nepal Police Club, who has scored 10 goals. Sahukhala gave a finishing touch to beat diving goalie Bashir from close range in a brilliant pass of Sujal Shrestha.
Machhindra which is seeking its first win in the league could not create more than a couple of moves. However, the sixth position finisher in the last edition coming up with four foreigner players put up an improved show as compared to previous outings.
In the 42nd minute, Ezee Collins´ powerful header in Naresh Pokharel´s corner was caught by MMC custodian Bishal Shrestha.
MMC coach Tae-Ho said that he was satisfied with the performance though the team failed to deliver cent percent his expectation. “The level of Nepali league is higher than what I heard in Korea,” Tae-Ho said through an interpreter. He also said that MMC has high chances of winning the league.
Machhindra coach Tshering Lopsang, the former coach of MMC, said that the second goal conceded through penalty became the turning point of the match. “The boys´ morale was down after conceding the second goal,” said Lopsang, who expressed satisfaction at his team´s performance.
Related story
Kathmandu on top with third consecutive victory, Biratnagar reg...
