BARA, Feb 3: CMG Sankata has advanced to the semifinals of the ongoing 8th Simara Gold Cup Football Tournament registering 2-0 victory over Armed Police Force Club on Friday. 

In the quarterfinal match played at Simara Stadium, Raj Poudel and Sushil KC scored one goal each to send Sankata to the last four. African recruit Ajayi Martins assisted both goals in Sankata's victory. 

Sankata went ahead in the match in the 41st minute with Raj's goal utilizing the pass from Martins. Five minutes later, winger Sushil extended Sankata's lead, and this time as well Martins provided the pass.

Despite scoring two first half goals, Sankata couldn't add any goal in the second half while APF failed to utilized handful of goal-scoring opportunities. Goals creator Martins was declared man-of-the-match and was handed Rs 5000. 

After the victory, Sankata's head coach Salyan Khadgi said that playing according to the plan helped his team to pull the victory. “Our strategy was to play defensive after scoring goals and my players played as per the instruction which was the key reason behind the win,” said Khadgi. 

Meanwhile, APF's head coach Kumar Thapa said that failing to improve the performance in the second half saw his team face defeat. 

On Saturday, Sahara Club of Pokhara will take on Birgunj United Club. 

 
• cmg sankata
 
• armed police force club
 
• 8th simara gold cup football tournament