Supersub Deepak Khadka scored the all-important goal six minutes from time to stun the visiting team. Khadka, a replacement for Shyam Nepali, scored in a cross from Nabin Lama to seal his team´s place in the last four of the tournament.[break]
The visiting side CFC took the match under control and created frequent chances but failed to capitalize on them. Setu Rai of CFC was declared the man-of-the-match. He was awarded with a trophy and a cash prize of Rs 5,000.
Bhutan´s coach Bikash Pradhan blamed ´some wrong decisions´ by the referee and bad luck for his side´s defeat. "The boys played better than the opponent team. Some of our attempts hit the woodwork and the referee´s decisions were wrong on some occasions," Pradhan said.
Pradhan´s counterpart Janak Singh Tharu of APF opined that his side could not play as expected. "The boys failed to play to their potential thus it became difficult for us to score."
Top-tier team Simrik Saraswati Club of Kathmandu will lock horns with Manipur Football Club of India in the second quarterfinal on Wednesday.
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