Nepal were condemned to fourth place finish in the Saff U-15 Women’s Championship after they lost 4-3 in penalties to hosts Bhutan in the third place playoff at the  Changlimithang Stadium in Thimphu on Saturday.

The match was decided from the spot after regulation time finished at 2-2 deadlock. Deki Lhazom gave an early second minute lead to the hosts to the delight of home crowd. Nepal’s quest for equaliser remained unfulfilled until the interval. Chandra Bhandari, who entered as a substitute at the restart, made the impact scoring the equaliser in the 48th minute.

Bhandari again scored for Nepal in the 55th making the scoreline 2-1. But Nepal’s lead did not last long as Yeshey Bidha equalised for hosts in the 66th minute leading the match to tiebreaker.

Saraswati Hamal, Preeti Rai and Saloni Magar scored from the spot for Nepal while Sabita Rana Magar and Bhandari failed to convert.  Sonam Lhamo, Chhiring Yangchen, Yeshwy Bidha and Chhiring Ladan hit the targets for Bhutan in penalty shootout while Sarej Pelmo failed to score. Nepal were defeated 2-1 by India in the semi-final on Thursday.