CHITWAN, Oct 23: Morang Football Club of Biratnagar has reached into the semifinal of the ongoing 12th Tuborg Bikash Running Shield beating Sahara Club of Pokhara 2-1 on Sunday.
In the first quarterfinal of the tournament held at Campachaur, Narayangadh Dipak Rai and Martin Ajayi scored one goal each for the winning team while Peter Segun netted consolation goal for Sahara.
Sahara who had beaten strong departmental team APF 4-0 in the last match, couldn't play to its mark against the Biratnagar based club. Captain Dipak Rai netted the first goal in the 21st minute and put Morang into the driving seat. Dipak took advantage of inattentive Sahara goalkeeper Sandesh Gurung and fired from close range to make 1-0. Despite starting the game brightly, Sahara came under pressure after conceding the goal. Sushil Lama who has been Sahara's star player throughout the tournament was under tight marking by Morang leaving him very slim chances of attack.
However Sahara was successful to equalize in the 36th minute with Peter Segun's goal as the Nigerian striker collected Sushil's rebounder off the goalpost before firing it to make 1-1.
Sahara's hope received a huge setback in the stoppage time of the first half when Martin Ajayi scored for the Morang to restore the lead. In the second half both teams resumed the play with the target of adding goals however none of them scored any. As a result, Morang sealed its place in the last four with 2-1 victory.
Sahara's goalkeeper Sandesh Gurung who had impressed with his performance in the previous matches couldn't repeat his similar performance against Morang as he didn't get enough support from his defenders. And Morang's players utilized such defensive errors and netted two goals. Sushil Lama of the losing side Sahara was declared the-man-of-the-match and was handed Rs 10,000.
Morang Football Club into semis
