KATHMANDU, June 9: CMG Sankata Club and Nepal Police Club (NPC) have advanced to the semifinals of the Lalit Meomrial U-18 Football Championship on Friday.
In the quarterfinal matches played at ANFA Complex, Sanakata defeated Jawalakhel Youth Club (JYC) 4-1 while NPC overcame Himalayan Sherpa Club (HSC) 3-2.
Sankata will now face Friends Club in the first semifinal of the championship on Saturday while the other semifinal will see departmental derby as NPC faces Tribhuvan Army Club on the same day.
In the first match of the day, Devraj Tamang scored a hat-trick for the winning side Sankata while Laxman Gurung added another goal. Devraj put Sankata in the driving seat scoring the opener in the 35th minute while he added his second goal three minutes later to make it 2-0.
Laxman netted Sankata's third goal in the 54th minute while Devraj completed his hat-trick in the 88th minute. Sushant Chaudhary scored a consolation goal for JYC in the 67th minute.
After guiding his team to victory, Sugan Tandukar said that the hard work of his players paid off. “We had trained for two months for this tournament and now that paid off. We begun the championship with the target of wining it and we are in good form to achieve that,” said Coach Tandukar.
“Friends is a balanced team, we are not taking it lightly. It has top quality players so the match will be tough,” added Tandukar.
NPC 3-2 HSC
HSC took early lead in the match as Abinash Tamang scored the opener in the 11th minute but Rajiv Lopchan produced an equalizer for NPC in the 44th minute.
Diwash Bohara scored in the 74th minute to help HSC restore its lead but Abhisek Rijal pulled two goals in the 77th and 84th minute respectively to help the departmental side seal the 3-2 victory.
Army retains Lalit Memorial U18 title
