Friends Club also gained three points in its first match in the league after pulling off a 3-0 victory against the newly promoted Swayambhu Club.[break]
Three Star, the runner-up of the last season, outclassed Koilapani, which is playing for the first time at the national stadium. The mofussil club faced a Herculean task resisting the British Gurkha Cup Champion Three Star. The club´s attempt failed in the 25th minute after Yogesh Gurung´s shot from 20-yard met the net for the Patan side.
Chemjong doubled the lead in the 39th minute taking advantage of the pass from Raj Kumar Ghising from a close range. Biraj Maharjan scored the third goal for Three Star with a spectacular header as he met a sublime cross from Anil Ojha two minutes before the break.
Koilapani could not change its fate after the break as they could not stop Three Star from scoring more goals. Chemjong collected a pass from Maharjan and dodged Koilapani goalkeeper Bikash Kalakheti to score his second and team´s fourth in the very first minute of the second half.
In the 61st minute of the match, Ghising collected a pass from Bikram Lama and moved forward to score a goal in one-on-one situation to seal a huge victory.
Koilapani made few attempts on the post in the dying minutes but Three Star custodian Kiran Chemjong made easy saves .
“Koilapani was a new team but we didn´t take them lightly. They tried to stop us but we scored,” said Three Star skipper Sanjeev Budhathoki.
“I have given a game-plan and assigned definite roles to every player and they have given almost 90 percent in the very first match,” said Three Star coach Megh Raj KC. “We´ll gradually improve and give 100 percent in the matches to come,” added KC.
Kolapani coach Raju Pulami, who was looking after A-division club for the first time, said his boys were intimidated by the big platform but vowed to make a impressive comeback in the tournament to maintain their top flight status.
In another match of the day, Tanka Bahadur Lama, Surendra Tamang and Ajad Pradhan scored a goal each for Friends to beat Swayambhu.
Lama scored from the box as Swayambhu goalkeeper Manish Timsina could not collect the ball in the 17th minute.
Veteran striker Tamang, who recently completed his transfer from Three Star to Friends, came into limelight as he beat two defenders and met the net from acute angle in the 74th minute of the match.
Friends´ skipper Pradhan proved his credibility as a dead ball specialist in the team and scored from 25 yard in the 87th minute in a free-kick. Swayambhu goalie Timsina had punched the ball but referee Sudish Pandey declared it to be a goal as the ball had already crossed the goal-line.
“We lost the match because of the referee´s poor judgment. The first goal we conceded was not a goal. The ball was in goalkeeper´s grip when Friends player pushed our goalie and scored the first goal. Referee should have declared it a foul,” said Swayambhu coach Raju Lama. “ ANFA should punish referee for their poor judgment,” added Lama.
However, his counterpart Paras Chaudhary refuted Lama´s claim. Chaudhary claimed to finish within the top five in the league. “We were here to play for the maximum three points and we gained it,” Chaudhary added.
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