POKHARA, Jan 28: Bangladesh’s Uttar Baridhara SC has booked its last four berth in the ongoing 16th Aaha Rara Gold Cup football tournament defeating Far-western XI Sporting Club 2-1 on Saturday.
At the Pokhara Stadium, Mido Masa gave Baridhara the lead 16 minutes before the end of the match by beating the offside trap in a pass from Saila Sonlemane. Sonlemane, then, scored the second goal after nine minutes to double the lead for the visiting team. Binod KC of Far-western scored a consolation goal two minutes before the end of the match to make the score 2-1. But, that was not enough for Far-western, who had beaten the host Sahara Football Club in its first match. Far-western could have equalized, had it converted a penalty in the 78th minute through Dhiraj Gurung.
Bangladesh sets 134 runs target for Nepal
Far-western head coach Suresh Hamal said that his team faced the defeat as it failed to convert series of good chances into goals. He added that despite playing well, the luck was not on their side. “We performed well in both the halves,’’ Hamal said, “But, our situation was on shambles and the players became nervous. We failed to convert the penalty, and had we scored, we would have fancied our chances to come back in the match.’’
Baridhara had also missed several chances throughout the match. The man-of-the-match Masa’s ninth minute strike just went over the bar. Despite playing with nine men, the Bangladeshi team crushed Far-western’s hope and cruised into the last four of the tournament. Baridhara’s Solemane and Kande Lansone were shown red cards.
Baridhara’s team manager Asson Ahmat expressed his dissatisfaction with the referee’s decisions, but praised his players.
“The referee had shown yellow cards time and again,” Ahmat said, “The way of his judgment was not correct.’’
Today’s match
Tribhuvan Army Club (TAC) vs Dharan Club
