POKHARA, March 15: Manang Marshyangdi Club has lifted the record sixth Aaha Rara Gold Cup with a 4-3 tiebreaker win over its A-Division counterpart Nepal Police Club in Pokhara on Saturday.
This was Manang’s sixth Aaha Rara Gold Cup title as it had won the second, third, 10th, 14th and 15th editions.
In the final match played at the Pokhara Stadium, the match was pushed to extra time after the teams could not score a goal in the regulation time. The game then went to tie-breaker after the teams could not score in the 30 minutes of extra time.
Manang won the tie-breaker after goalkeeper Ashok Baral stopped two penalties after Police’s Ajit Bhandari and Tej Tamang could not score their kicks. Police’s Bhola Silwal, Hem Tamang and Buddha Bal Tamang scored.
Likewise, Manang’s Anjan Bista, Pujan Uperkoti, Suraj BK and Ranjan Bista scored for the winning team, while Nishan Limbu missed his kick. His shot to the right corner was saved by Police keeper Roshan Khadka.
With the win, Manang has won a cash prize of Rs 1.001 million, while the runner-up Police was rewarded with a cash prize of Rs 501,000.
Defending champion MMC lifts Aaha-Rara Gold Cup title
Manang, who played attacking football from the start, threw away half a dozen chances to score and had to wait for its win till the tie-breaker.
Strengthening its defensive performance with compact football, Manang got the first chance of the game in the 20th minute as Kamal Shresthahit a corner, but a header from Bimal Rana was punchedover the crossbar by keeper Khadka.
Anjan Bista hit a cross inside the box in the 36th minute, but a flick header from Dayananda Singh went just over the bar, while Bista’s shot seven minutes later went wide.
Captain Kamal hit another corner near the end of the first half, but a bicycle kick from Bista went wide again, while Bimal Rana’s shot in the 60th minute was cleared to safety by the Police defenders and the rebound shot from Bista went wide.
Vidal Luis passed the ball to an unmarked Bimal Rana, and his one touch shot went off the target in the 68th minute, while Kamal’s corner in the 75th minute was headed by Singh, but the header grazed over the bar again. Also, Bista’s shot in the 89th minute went off target again.
Police looked comparatively less settled and less confident than Manang, and was outshone massively. However, it created some chances of its own, but could not convert them.
Nir Kumar Rai hit a shot in the 49th minute and it was saved by Manang keeper Ashok Baral, while Rabi Paswan crossed the ball to captain Bharat Shah, but his shot was easily saved by Baral.
Tej Tamang passed the ball to Buddha in the 74th minute, but his shot hit the top post and went out, while Paswan crossed the ball to an unmarked Nir Kumar, but the shot went just over the bar in the 93rd minute.
Police’s Ajit Bhandari was named the player of the tournament and was rewarded with an Aprilla scooter. But, the other individual awards were won by the Manang players.
Manang’s Ashok Baral, Suraj BK, Nitin Thapa, Anjan Bista and Fuja Tope were awarded the best goalkeeper, the best defender, the best midfielder, the best forward and the best coach awards respectively. They all won Rs 25,000 each.
Five players became the highest goalscorers of the tournament. Police’s Nir Kumar and Bharat Shah, Manang’s Bista, Three Star’s Sushan Shrestha and Tridev Gurung won the highest goalscorers award as all of them scored two goals each. They all won Rs 25,000 each with an additional cash prize of Rs 5,000 each.
