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Kathmandu Thursday December 20, 2001 Paush 05, 2058.
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Dharan Red beat YSC Birgunj
Post Report
DHARAN, Dec 19 –
Pravesh Katuwal’s golden goal ushered Dharan XI (Red) into the quarter-finals of
Budha Subba Gold Cup football tournament as they edged past Youth Sporting Club of Birgunj
by 2-1 on Wednesday.
Katuwal changed the
Dharan fortunes in the sixth minute of the extra-time through a brilliant 25-yarder. He
hardly wasted any time as Surendra Tamang, after clearing the
whole of the midfield single handedly, passed the ball just metres away from the penalty
area of the oppositon.
Earlier, after failing
to convert seven corner kicks, Dharan finally got into the lead as Milan Shrestha
converted the eighth one to take his team into the driver’s seat 24 minutes into the
second half. It was Katuwal, hero for his team later on, who had taken the corner.
Hardly a minute had
passed since Dharan got into the lead and hardly the fans jubiliation had ended that the
Youth Sporting Club leveled the score at 1-1. Rajesh Pun’s brilliant goal in the 25th
minute of the second half silenced the supporters. Pun, who had entered the field just
seven minutes earlier as a substitute, found the net from outside the penalty area after
receiving it from his skipper Ritu Shakya.
Even though match went
to Dharan (Red) – both the teams were – more or less, evenly matched throughout
the contest. While the team from Birgunj relied more on the longer passes, Dharan boys
were content with short passes. Dharan players were just a notch ahead of the Youth
Sporting players in speed.
As there was little to
choose between the teams as far as the skill display was concerned, most of the second
half and later part of the first half of the match saw the teams concenterating more on
defence. Nijamuddin Hawari, the Birgunj goalie showed remarkable skills standing up
against the Dharan forwards. His acrobatic saves were warmly received by the fans. Much of
credit goes to Hawari for pushing the match to the extra-time.
Suraj Khaling was
declared man of the match for his performance on the day. Binod Gauro received a warning
from the referee Madhusudan Khanal.
Rupandehi XI will take
on Jhapa XI on Thursday.
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