MAKAWANPUR, Feb 19: The defending champion departmental team Tribhuvan Army Club (TAC) has advanced into the semifinals of the ongoing Tuborg Hetauda Gold Cup Football Tournament with a 5-3 win over Far-western XI on Monday.
In the match played at the Institute of Forestry in Hetauda, the first half of the encounter finished goalless and was evenly poised for the second period. TAC took a lead through Nawayug Shrestha’s goal in the 69th minute when he dribbled past the goalkeeper to give TAC a 1-0 lead. Far-western scored the equalizer in the 82nd minute through Binod KC as his shot from inside the box was too hot to handle for TAC goalkeeper Bikesh Kuthu.
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The game was pushed into the tiebreaker as it was finished 1-1 in the regular time.
Shrestha, Bharat Khawas, Deep Lama, Bibek Basnet and Kuthu scored for TAC. For Far-western, Narendra Chaudhary, Bhogendra Chaudhary and Chetan Tharu scored. Kuthu was named the man-of-the-match.
TAC will now take on the group A winner Laxmi Hyundai Manang Marshyangdi Club on Wednesday.
TAC head coach Nabin Neupane said that his team played under pressure as his players did not get time to prepare for the match. They came straight to Hetauda after winning the Simara Gold Cup on Saturday. He also added the match was tough as he did not get to field his experienced players with injuries.
Far-western head coach Suresh Hamal accused the referee Sudesh Pandey of making wrong decisions throughout the match. He added that if Pandey wanted to help only the big teams win, then what was the point of other teams playing in the tournament.
