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Kathmandu,Friday January 07, 2000 Paush 23rd, 2056.
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MPC to
face MMC in Birthday Cup final
-By a Post Reporter
KATHMANDU,
Jan 6- Mahendra Police Club (MPC) and Tribhuvan Club of Army
couldn’t have asked for a better stage, it was the semi-final of the
Birthday Cup football tournament. Tribhuvan club who must have entered
the match with a 0-1 defeat suffered at the hands of Mahendra Police
in the ANFA Coca-Cola league final recently at the back of their mind,
but one could smell they were seeking a possible revenge this
time round. However, the plans did not work out perfectly well for
them as they went down by identical margin once again to bow out of
Birthday Cup here today.
The
win meant that Mahendra Police Club will now face ‘in form’ Manang
Marshyangdi Club (MMC) in the final on Saturday.
Unlike
yesterday’s one sided semi-final, the match today between the two
well matched traditional rivals was quite observing. Both the sides
went all out into the match looking for early goals while the Army
club looked more determined to get into the lead and they could have
made one in the 10th minute of the match, had it not been for MPC’s
Anil Adhikari who with the custodian Sanjeeb Joshi well beaten brought
out a spectacular goal-line save to keep the MPC flag flying.
Tribhuvan club were denied another opportunity in the 22nd minute when
MPC keeper Sanjeev came up with a spectacular save off a Saila
Maharjan’s powerful shot.
In
the 29th minute, the army had another golden opportunity to surge
ahead, but Prakash Rana after going past an advancing keeper failed to
put the ball into the net as he shot straight into an MPC defender.
And if this was not enough proof that it wasn’t Tribhuvan Club’s
day, the very next minute in a counter attack, in an identical move
and identical situation in which Prakash Rana failed to score, MPC’s
international Sandesh Shrestha scored. He went past the advancing
Channu Ram Chaudhary, army custodian and then lobbed the ball over the
head of the defender into the net, telling the army club as if
that’s the way to do it.
The
score remained 1-0 in favour of MPC till half time.
Army
Club’s tale of missed chances continued in the second half as even
after coming close to scoring on a number of occasions, the
armie failed to finish it off. Their best chance came in the 30th
minute of the second half when Suk Bahadur Gurung shot over the cross
bar from a mere handshaking distance with the goalkeeper.
As
frustration was getting better of Army side with every passing minute
it was MPC who were looking more purposeful in their attack. But MPC
also missed some close chances. In the 30th minute, Ramesh Budhathoki
almost doubled the score when his shot was just parred away by Chhannu
Ram. Five minutes later MPC’s Hari Khadka playing his first match of
the tournament had a golden opportunity but he shot wide.
Hari
Khadka, said to be nursing a shoulder injury, had a relatively quiet
match and seemed to be playing well within himself. MPC’s other
feared strikers in the likes of Ramesh Budhathoki, Raju Pulami also
had an average match.
After
tomorrow’s rest day, the final will be played on Saturday.
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