Three Star also made it through to the knockout stage from the same group as the runners up while Boys Union, who earlier hammered Mid and Far Western 10-0 crashed out of the tournament. Now Three Star will meet Nepal Police Club in the quarterfinals while RCT will take on Friends Club.
Continuing with their unbeaten run RCT added seven points in their kitty with two wins and a draw while Three Star finished with five points with two draw and a win playing equal matches. Boys Union came in third spot with four points and Mid and Far West are bound to return home without a single points.
RCT dominated the match until the first and mid of the second half in terms of ball possession. They frequently took the ball in the TCS danger zone but goalkeeper Kiran Chemjong and defending line foiled their attempts to score.
RCT intensified their attacking from the very beginning. Deepak Rai´s finishing touch in the box in cross of Prabesh Katuwal went a bit wide from the post. Yogesh Gurung who was near to score after beating custodian Kiran in the 43rd minute was denied by Three Star defender Anjan KC. Two minutes later, goalie Kiran punched an excellent shot of Santosh Gurung´s from outside the box.
For Three Star, Santosh Saukhala´s 11th minute strike from box out utilizing defending error was saved by RCT custodian Dilip Chhetri.
The second half of the match saw increase in pace of the game with Three Star coming up with improved performance during the mid of the second half. They remained dominant during the last 20 minutes of the match.
RCT coach Madhu Karki said that the team had come up in the ground with the target to win. “However, we wanted to avoid meeting with the police team in quarterfinals and we did it by holding Three Star in a draw,” said Madhu.
Three Star coach, Balgopal Maharjan admitted that the team could not materialize their dream of topping the group. “Had the players played as that of second half in the first half we could have won.” He also blamed the team´s psychology for the draw. “Team did not play better as we almost have qualified for the next stage before playing the match.”
Earlier, in the one sided first match Raju Rai netted six goals in the landslide victory of Boys Union over the helpless Mid and Fare West team. Raju scored in the 38th, 48th, 53rd, 83rd, 85th and 90th minute. However, they had to wait until 35th minute to open their scoring and only two goals were possible in the first half. Tanka Basnet scored the first goal.
Likewise, Shekhar Limbu, Yuvaraj Rai and Bhakta Rai netted one goals each in 54th, 86th and 88th minute respectively. Had RCT defeated Three Star by four goals margin, Boys Union would have qualified for the quarterfinals round.
Thursday´s matches
Machindra FC Vs PLA Sports Club @ 12:00 NST
ANFA U-16 Vs Manang Marshyangdi Club @ 14:00 NST
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