African recruit Olawale Afeez, Anil Gurung and Ananta Tamang were on target for MMC which avenged the defeat suffered in the final of the last edition. MMC also booked the final berth for the fifth time in Dharan.
In the title clash scheduled for Saturday, MMC will take on the winner of the second semifinal between Nepal Police Club and Rupandehi XI on Thursday.
Afeez put MMC ahead in the very first minute. The African scored the opening goal after Heman Gurung's corner was left uncleared inside the danger zone.
Ramesh Dangal restored parity for APF six minutes later as he slammed in MMC goalkeeper Kiran Chemjong's rebounder off APF skipper Ganesh Lawati.
Teenage striker Anjan Bista made it 2-1 for the departmental team in the 13th minute in a one-on-one situation with keeper Kiran after he collected the ball with defenders already well beaten.
Skipper Anil Gurung equalized for MMC in the 26th minute to make the score 2-2. He headed in Biswas Shrestha's corner to stun APF. MMC squandered a chance to go into break with a one-goal cushion after Sujal Shrestha failed to convert penalty awarded after Saroj Koirala brought down Afeez inside the danger zone.
Ananta made it 3-2 for MMC 13 minutes into the second half when he flick-headed Bishal Rai's freekick leaving APF custodian Amrit Chaudhary clueless. Both the sides pressed hard for other goals but none of the them succeeded to score despite creating frequent chances.
MMC defender Biraj Maharjan was declared the man-of-the-match and was rewarded with Rs 5,000.
APF coach Janak Singh Tharu lamented that his side lost the match as the players failed to execute their plan. "We conceded goals in a freekick and two corners after the boys failed in man-to-man marking," Tharu said. "We played well and even scored in early moments," Tharu summed up.
MMC coach Chhiring Lopsang said that his side conceded goals due to carelessness of players and failed to perform up to their potential. He also claimed that the second goal MMC conceded was offside.
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