In the group C matches played at the Dasharath Stadium Thursday, MMC thrashed CMG Sankata Club 5-1 while Army humiliated Tushal 6-0.
Following the victories, MMC and Army both have six points each while Sankata and Tushal are yet to open their accounts on the points table. MMC had humiliated Tushal 12-0 in the first match of the group while Army had edged past Sankata 2-0. [break[
Nepal Army registered emphatic victory over Tushal as Naresh Meche completed his hat-trick. Kashi Raj Karki opened the scoring for Army in the 16th minute. Tek Bahadur Budhathoki made it 2-0 in the 19th minute.
Scoring two goals early in the first half, Army dominated the rest of the show as Meche came into role. He scored his first in the 32nd minute and second in the 38th minute. He completed hat-trick in the 48th minute.
Meche became the fifth player to score hat-trick in the ongoing Gurkha Cup. Earlier, Karna Limbu of NMB Machhindra, Santosh Sahukhala of Laxmi Bank Three Star, Anil Gurung of MMC and Rajendra Rawal of Armed Police Force had scored hat-tricks in the tournament.
"As our regular players are going through departmental duties and recovering from injuries, we gave chance to some new faces and young players and they are playing well in this tournament," said Army coach Yogambar Suwal. "However, we have to improve our performance. With the current performance, knockout stage could be difficult for us," he added.
Tushal coach Umesh Lama said that his side put up improved performance and try to put up good fight against a very good team like Army. He also said that his team would look for consolation win in the last group-stage match against Sankata.
Meanwhile, Sujal Shrestha and Anil Gurung scored a brace each to seal a 5-1 victory for MMC.
Shrestha opened scoring for MMC in the 24th minute. Rupesh KC made the half-time scores 2-0 as he scored in the 41st minute. MMC added three goals in the second half and conceded one. Shrestha netted his second in the 72nd minute and Gurung scored his first goal a minute later. Rajib Gurung scored for Sankata in the 80th minute to make the score-line 4-1 but Anil Gurung sealed 5-1 result scoring in the third minute of the injury time.
MMC coach Amrit Pant said that the result was expected. "We have quality players and we have good bench strength. We want to be group winner at first and we´ll ultimately vie for title," said Pant.
Sankata coach Shyam Mali blamed poor preparation for the weak performance. "We conceded two goals in the first half and there would always be a pressure situation after conceding goals," said Mali.
Friday´s matches
Jawalakhel Vs Boys Union @ 14:00
Himalayan Sherpa Vs Friends @ 16:00
Related story
Army, Friends' into quarterfinals, Manang crashes out
