Three Star enters semis in Governor's Gold Cup

Three Star Club defeated Boarder Security Force of India 2-1 to enter the semifinals of 30th Governors Gold Cup Football Tournament being held in Sikkim.

Three Star, comprising mostly of national U-17 players took the lead in the very first minute. In the quickest goal of the tournament, Rupesh KC gave Three Star the lead even as the BSF players and the crowd were just settling in. The lanky central midfielder was given all the time and space to glance his header into the far corner of the net from a Pukar Gahatraj free-kick. His goal triggered wild celebrations among the largely partisan crowd and set them in the right mood.

The BSF team relied on the long balls in order to pass over the faster Nepal players and made its first attempt on the goal in the 35th minute. Avinash Thapa's looping shot just dropped outside the bar. The first half ended in 1-0 with the scoreline in favour of the Nepal side.

The BSF team came back strongly after the break and was able to break the Nepal defence repeatedly in the first 15 minutes. However, the Nepal side managed to weather the storm and then gradually changed momentum towards the rival's goal.

Three Star defender Sobindra Shrestha curled a free-kick into the net for the winning goal in the 85th minute to set the semifinal date with Tata football academy of India.

In the meantime, the club is calling for more senior legs from Kathmandu for their semi-final clash against a rampaging Tata Football Academy (TFA) on October 23. nepalnews.com bt Oct 22 08