Defending champions Tribhuvan Army Club defeated Three Star Club 3-2 in the semi-final to set up title clash of the Mechinagar Gold Cup football tournament against arch rivals Nepal Police Club on Thursday.

Nepali international forward Nawayug Shrestha struck twice for Army to put the departmental side 2-0 ahead by 40 minutes before Cameroonian forward Ellon Maxwell replied for Three Star with two quick goals to level parity 10 minutes into restart. But Deep Lama slammed the winner promptly after Three Star’s second goal.

Shrestha was wearing the captains armband in the absence of regular skipper Bharat Khawas, opened the scoring in the 28th minute heading home a cross from Suman Aryal. The star forward doubled the tally for the departmental side in the 39th minute after dribbling past Three Star goalkeeper Alan Neupane in a one-on-one situation, again set by defender Aryal.

Maxwell gave momentum to Three Star’s fightback as he cut the deficit deep into the first half in a spectacular fashion after he was fed by Ananta Tamang. He was again on target in the 54th converting a pass from Sunil Bal. But Three Star’s celebration of the equaliser was short lived as Lama promptly restored one-goal cushion for Army. He was set by Sesehang Angdambge.

Army dominated the show in terms of ball possession in the match and they could have taken lead as early as in the third minute but Angdambge squandered a solid chance inside the area. In the 17th Jeetendra Karki’s scorcher near from the centre sailed inches wide. In the 42nd  minute, unmarked Angdangbe’s strike was denied by custodian Neupane.

Three Star also wasted couple of scoring chances in the first half. They could have taken lead in the 17th minute when Maxwell’s scorcher smashed the woodwork. In the 27th minute, unmarked Mansa ended up applying a feeble header only for Police golie Bibas Chaudhary to grip the ball. Five minutes later Army’s Dipak Gurung made a goalline clearance to prevent Sushil Rai’s goal-bound header.  Twin goal scorer Shrestha of Army was declared the-man-of-the-match and won a purse of Rs 11,000.    

Army coach Nabin Neupane said that his side was excited to win the match despite playing in the absence of key players including Bharat Khawas, Bikesh Kuthu and Santosh Tamang. He promised to come up with a strong display in final. Three Star coach Meghraj KC said that his side conceded due to silly mistakes in defending. “Though the team played, well some silly mistakes in defending cost us dearer,” he said.