DHARAN, Dec 24: Departmental teams Armed Police Force (APF) and Tribhuvan Army Club recorded wins in their opening matches of men’s football played under Seventh National Games here on Friday.
In the group B matches held at ANFA Technical Center, Dharan, APF registered a thumping 8-0 win over Mid-Western Region while Army overcame Far-Western Region 1-0.
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Yubraj Khadka netted four goals alone for APF while Ranjan Bista, Shyam Nepali and Rajendra Rawal added one goal each for the winning side. Similarly, Mid-Western gifted the departmental side with an own goal to seal the 8-0 victory.
APF went ahead in the game with Ranjan’s goal in the 10th minute and the lead was extended two minutes later with courtesy to an own goal from Mid-Western’s captain Chetan Tharu. Shyam Nepali made 3-0 in 14th minute while Rajendra Rawal netted fourth in the stoppage time of the first half. In the second half, all remaining four goals came from Yubraj as he notched in 53rd, 79th, 89th and injury time to help his team to start the competition with huge margin win.
APF studded with Nepali internationals including Ranjan Bista, Rajendra Rawal and Aditya Chaudhary kept Mid-Western under the pressure throughout the game and denied Mid-Western Region from creating any notable scoring chances.
In the second match of the same group, Suman Aryal’s goal was the difference between Army and Far Western Region. A goal scored by Suman as early as in the sixth minute became decisive which saw Army snatching all three points. Despite studded with three national players -- captain Bharat Khawas, Nawayug Shrestha and goalkeeper Bikesh Kuthu - the Army team faced tough challenge from the Far-Western.
On Saturday, Nepal Police Club and Western Region will vie in the group B fixture while home team Eastern Region will take on Central Region in the second match of the day.
