 |
Kathmandu,Tuesday March 14, 2000 Chaitra 01, 2056.
|
MMC, MPC book semifinals berth Hat-tricks
for Basanta and Ramesh
By a Post Reporter
KATHMANDU, March 13- It was a fascinating football
match, the match between Manang Marshyangdi Club(MMC) and Three Star Club. Not that it was
exciting all the way through, but it had some fascinating moments where MMC came trumps
7-2, with eight of the goals scored in the second half.
MMC, sure of a place in the final, chose to opt for
a second string as names like Rajan Rayamajhi, Kumar Thapa, Basanta Gauchan were missing
from the line up and it was the other established striker Basanta Thapa who produced a
one-man show.
Ironically, it was Three Star who looked slightly
balanced side till the breather. Considering the big scoreline it is still hard to believe
MMC’s first goal came in the dying seconds of the first half.
The goal culminated after MMC’s Rajesh Shahi
after threatening to score the goal himself a number of times in the last quarter of the
first half, gave a beautiful through pass to Basanta Thapa who shot it just passed a
diving Three Star keeper to give his side the breakthrough.
In fact, it was only towards the later stages of
the first half that MMC had gathered momentum. Otherwise, until that moment, both the
sides had equal number of chances.
The second half belonged to Basanta Thapa
altogether. In the 11th minute he came close to scoring but his powerful shot was just
saved by a diving keeper Raju.
The next minute, Raju probably over confident after
his save against Thapa, came out to tackle against MMC’s Rajendra Tamang, but Tamang
was clever enough to give a swift cross to Saroj KC whose feeble shot was good enough to
beat the only defender to make it 2-0.
Three minutes later, Basanta unleashed another pile
driver from just outside the D-box but it hit the woodwork. All Sanjaya Gurung had to do
was to tap the ball in an open goalmouth but somehow he shot it over the top bar.
Saroj KC was again involved in another good move as
he passed onto Nabin Neupane who was good enough to shot it into the net to make it 3-0.
Basanta scored his second goal in the 20th minute
as his shot found the net after the first one had rebounded off the keeper.
In eight minutes Three Star had conceded three
goals to erase all the good works they had earlier done.
However, Three Star finally seemed to get their act
together as they made a number of moves in the next ten minutes or so. Their best chance
came in the 34th minute when Three Star’s Raju Nepali was brought down inside the D
area and referee had no hesitation to refer to the spot kick. Ujan Shrestha struck it
neatly to reduce the deficit to make it 4-1.
The goal only seemed to provoke Basanta Thapa as
the next minute he completed his hat-trick with a thunderbolt 25 yard shot to make it 3-1.
It probably was the goal of the tournament so far in the final round.
In the 41st minute Basanta Thapa was in the thick
of actions once again as he scored off a corner to make it 6-1. Two minutes later Basanta
added one more to take his individual tally shot the day to five and seventh for his team.
In the injury time, Three Star had another
consolation goal that came from the boots of Ramesh Ranamagar.
The last quarter of the match was marred by hail
and rain but with MMC on a rampage the spectators had their money’s worth.
MMC topped the group A to qualify for the
semi-finals.
Earlier in another group A match, Mahendra Police
Club(MPC) tamed Sankata Boys Sports Club 4-1 to finish second in the group but that was
good enough to earn them a place in the semis.
MPC dominated the match right from the start as
they got their lead through Gyanendra Sherchan in the 7th minute.
Six minutes later, MPC had another chance to double
the lead but the Sankata keeper Ashok Bajracharya was equal to the task coming up with a
beautiful save.
In the 24th minute, Sankata banking on their only
opportunity of the first half equalised through a spot kick when Sunil Tuladhar was
brought down inside the D-box and he himself converted to get the equaliser for Sankata.
Following this MPC missed a number of good
opportunities but in the 28th minute Ramesh Budhathoki finally scored the second goal to
double the lead.
And ten minutes later Budhathoki was in thick of
things once again scoring his second goal and side’s third goal.
In the second half it was Sankata who tasted first
success when Sankata’s Sunil Tuladhar was brought down in the 24th minute inside the
D-box and Tuladhar himself converted of the resulting spot kick to make it 3-1.
In the 30th minute Ramesh Budhathoki completed his
hat-trick to make it 4-1.
MPC missed some late chances to finish the match on
4-1.
In a battle of do or die tomorrow, RCT takes on
Tribhuvan Club as the winner qualifies for semi-final while in the second match Friends
Club takes on Sunsari.
Other Stories
|
