Top scored in either half and skipper Ganesh Lawati sealed the victory with a late goal as APF achieved derby wins in both legs of the league. In the first leg, APF had edged past Police 2-0 with goals from Ranjan Bista.After the win, APF climbed one spot to fourth with 20 points from 11 matches. Jhapa FC leads the standings with 24 points, while Three Star and Tribhuvan Army Club are second and third in the standings with 23 and 21 points respectively. APF, however, holds two-match advantage over leader Jhapa and has played one match less than Three Star and Army. Police, playing in absence of most of its first-choice players due to injury, remained third from the bottom at seventh position. Faltering Police, which once dominated the domestic football scene, has recorded only three wins and has 12 points from 13 matches.
The seventh defeat of league means Police is already out of contention for the title race. The injured players of Police are recovering and are likely to play in the upcoming fixtures.
"Injured players of the squad are gradually recovering and we will be able to earn stunning results after all injured players recover," Police's veteran coach Birat Krishna Shrestha said. He also added that it was one of the worst performances of the team since it was forced to play with second choice players due to injury.
APF dominated the match since the onset and took the lead early in the 10th minute. Defender Top opened his account in the league after he converted Heman Gurung's pass from the close range leaving Police goalie Roshan Khadka clueless. He doubled the advantage two minutes after the break after exchanging couple of passes with forward Jangbu Sherpa and unleashing a scorcher from the zone. Veteran forward and skipper Ganesh killed the match in the 77th minute when he headed in Nabin Lama's pass into the net, which was his fifth goal of the campaign.
"I am satisfied with the team's performance in the league and we are also one of the title contenders. The outcome of upcoming fixture against Manang will be crucial in determining our position in the tournament," said APF Coach Krishna Thapa.
He also lamented the loss of injured forward Rajnan Bista who won't be available for two upcoming matches. The other striker of the team Anjan Bista is in Iran for AFC U-19 Qualifiers Championship and will also miss the next match against MMC.
There won't be any match in the league on Saturday while Army will take on Morang and Three Star meets Lumbini on Sunday at ANFA, Satdobato.
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