Tribhuvan Army Club into final

JHAPA, Nov 29: Departmental team Tribhuvan Army Club (TAC) advanced to the final in the ongoing Kakarbhitta Gold Cup Football Tournament defeating another departmental team Nepal Police Club (NPC) 3-0 in the semifinal on Tuesday.

TAC, who also won the Shatakshi Gold Cup Trophy a week back, is getting close to claim two titles in a row.

For the title of Rs 800,000, TAC will face the winner of the match between host Kakarbhitta Football Training Center or Manang Marshyangdi Club (MMC) on Friday.

Kakarbhitta will take on Manang in the second last-four clash on Wednesday.

A brace from Dinesh Hemjan and a goal from George Prince Karki booked TAC’s place in the final.

Both the teams maintained ball possession until the first half, until when the game remained goalless. But, NPC could not stop TAC in the second half.

Dinesh scored a beautiful headed goal in the 54th minute to give TAC a 1-0 lead. Dinesh guided the ball goalwards from a Deepak Gurung’s cross.

Nepal U-19 football team’s star player Dinesh scored his first goal in the first game he played for TAC.

NPC played under pressure in the second half after trailing nearly an hour ago in the match. Most of the NPC’s players pressed far up the pitch with its defensive line well ahead. It was clearly visible that NPC’s defensive line had lost balance. As pressure built up against NPC, TAC added two more goals in the match.

TAC’s coach Nabin Neupane said that his side took advantage of the high line and the pressure they put against NPC. He expressed satisfaction over winning against a strong team like NPC.

Neupane said that the man-of-the-match Dinesh did not let injured Nawayug Shrestha’s presence felt in the match.

Dinesh doubled the lead in the 64th minute on a counter attack utilizing a long forward pass from Sudeep Shrestha.

His powerful strike just outside the NPC box gave no chance for NPC goalkeeper to save.

Then, George scored a solo goal to make it 3-0 and impossible for NPC to get back to the game. George had taken captain armband from Bharat Khawas.

George dribbled the ball forward all on his own when NPC players gave away the possession assuming it was offside. NPC’s goalie came ahead to get the ball off him, but George dribbled past the goalkeeper to score a goal.

Failing to score in the first half was a major setback for NPC. Jumanu Rai could not utilize the opportunity when he got the ball near the post.

Rabi Paswan could not get the goal in the 35th minute from a pass of Tej Tamang while Suman Lama’s shot was beautifully saved by TAC’s goalkeeper Bikesh Kuthu in the 51st minute.

“We had to lose the game when we failed to utilize the opportunity to score in the first half,” NPC’s coach Kumar Katuwal said, “The other setback was felt when Bharat injured our goalkeeper.” Bharat had injured NPC’s goalkeeper while taking a shot.

TAC also missed several chances to score goals. Bharat could not beat NPC’s goalkeeper Dinesh Rajbanshi in the 31st minute.

Likewise, Dinesh missed a chance to score a hat-trick in the match when George’s shot was rebounded to his foot and he missed an easy chance to score in an empty net.