It was the Armymen who took an early fifth minute lead through Amrit Basnet before Leonce Zikahi Dodoz brought MMC back on level terms in the second half. MMC will now take on another departmental side Nepal Armed Police Force Club in the final on Saturday.

TAC, who have impressed with their performance of late with two knockout titles and staying unbeaten in the National League, looked right on course to prove their consistency when Basnet made an easy finish from the area. Basnet followed up a Santosh Tamang shot that rebounded off MMC goalie Bishal Shrestha to score.

The goal woke MMC from their slumber as they piled pressure on TAC but the score remained the same at the end of the first half. Dodoz then struck eight minutes after resumption, converting a pass from veteran Nabin Neupane.

In a controversial four-minute of injury time, referee Arun Lama brandished a red card to Yuddha Shahi of TAC for manhandling Dodoz. It got worse when furious Shahi kicked referee Lama. Lama left the ground in protest which resulted into a 10-minute delay of the match.

As if it was not enough, TAC surprisingly refused to play the 30 minutes of extra time, halting the match for another half an hour. TAC were demanding the match be decided in straight through tiebreaker. The match officials partly gave in to the TAC demands and played only 10 minutes of extra time. Maskey struck the winner right after the resumption.

TAC coach Meghraj KC put all the blame on referee for the outcome of the match. “The first goal MMC scored was an offside. They are not Fifa-standard referees,” fumed KC. MMC coach Raju Kaji Shakya said his players managed to up their game when needed most. “We were not able to get hold of the ball in the first half but our boys did brilliant job in the second,” said Shakya.