Sports
Morang enter Simara Gold Cup semi-final
Morang Football Club defeated hosts Nawa Jana Jagriti Youth Club (White) 4-1 on penalties to secure semi-final berth in the Simara Gold Cup football tournament on Saturday.Morang Football Club defeated hosts Nawa Jana Jagriti Youth Club (White) 4-1 on penalties to secure semi-final berth in the Simara Gold Cup football tournament on Saturday.
The winners were directly decided through spotkick battle after the regulation 90 minutes finished at 1-1 deadlock. In the tiebreaker, all four players of Morang – Niraj Basnet, Buddhiman Rai, Bikram Limbu and Dipak Rai converted from the spots. Only Bijay Shrestha among the first three penalty takers from the hosts netted from the spot. Man Bahadur Tamang and Saurab Magar both hit off the target.
Morang had exerted a huge amount of pressure in the first half against the home team but their frequent attempts went on vain. It was rather Nawa Jana Jagriti who took the lead scoring against the run of play. In the 66th minute, Bijay Shrestha capitalised on a poor clearance from Morang defender Suren Khawas in his bid to deny Victor Amobi. Bhuwan Basnet restored parity in the 65th minute utilising a pass from Yogesh Gurung. Morang coach Paras Chaudhary was utterly dissatisied by his team’s performance and said their wait prolonged due to poor finishing of his side. Nawa Jana Jagriti coach Nabin Maharjan said that they were unfortunate not to hold on to their lead and blamed lack of coordination between his players.
Departmental teams Tribhuvan Army Club and Nepal APF play Sunday’s second quarter-final. (PR)