Dharan made NPC toil for victory holding the departmental team to a scoreless draw in regulation time until Shah scored the decider six minutes into the extra time. Shah headed home a pass from Juman Rai to disappoint the local crowds. NPC will now take on Sahara Club of Pokhara for a place in the semi-finals.

Earlier, Dharan defender Subash KC prevented a well taken freekick from Bhola Silwal in the 12th minute before custodian Ashit Tamang denied Dipen Shrestha a minute later.

At the other end, Dharan also had a shot on target in the 21st minute when Ramjit Bhujel’s attempt was foiled by NPC goalie Ritesh Thapa. Both teams squandered number of goal scoring opportunities after the interval but could not break the deadlock forcing the game to extra time.

NPC coach Birat Krishna Shrestha blamed his players for being overconfident against the local side. “Our players were overconfident of winning the match and that attitude resulted into the game extended to the extra time,” said the unhappy NPC coach.  “The boys did not put enough efforts to score early on and there is nothing I  can be happy about with the performance,” said Shrestha.