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| Kathmandu, Friday December 13, 2002 Mangshir 27, 2059. |
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Rayamajhi treble steers Friends’ Club
into final
Post Report
DHARAN, Dec 12 : Ace striker Nirajan Rayamajhi fired a
hattrick to guide Friends’ Club to the final of the fifth Budha Subba Gold Cup
Football tournament beating Indian outfit Avenues Samelani, Kolkata 4-0 on Thursday’s
semifinal.
The win means, Friends’ Club will take
on mighty Mahendra Police Club (MPC) in the title clash on Saturday. This is the first
time that Friends’ Club have entered the final of the Budha Subba Gold Cup. They were
ousted from the semifinal last time by local Dharan ‘Red’. In contrast, MPC have
already entered four times in Budha Subba final and come up with two titles with still a
final to play.
Rayamajhi, the lone Nepali player to score
hattrick in World Cup Qualifying Games, found two goals in the first half and completed
his hattrick in the 68th minute. Kailash Dangol scored the other goal for the
Lalitpur-based club in the 67th minute.
Friends’ Club, boasting recognised
players in the likes of Rayamajhi, Upendra Man Singh, Robin Byanjankar, Dangol, Bal Gopal
Maharjan and Sukra Tamang, made life tough for the Indian outfit, who had ousted Dharan
‘Red’ 4-2 in tiebreaker in quarterfinals.
Friends’ Club took the lead in the 30th
minute after Sukra Tamang, dribbling past three Samelani defenders, released a pass to
unmarked Rayamajhi at the centre. The prolific striker rammed home the 1-0 lead to put
pressure on Samelani.
Samelani, in search of an equaliser, left
their defensive territory wide and Rayamajhi utilised the chance to the optimum striking
further two goals. Rayamajhi doubled the lead just before the break after taking a
Rajkumar Tandukar’s rebound inside Samelani penalty area.
Dangol almost confirmed their win in the 67th
minute giving Friends’ Club a commanding 3-0 lead. Jibesh Pandey provided a perfect
ball inside Samelani box and Dangol connected a perfect header to guide the ball into the
Samelani goal.
Rayamajhi completed his treble just a minute
after Dangol’s goal to be the first player to score hattrick in the tournament. The
Indian outfit also created some chances in the match but experienced goalie Singh saved
all their efforts with ease. Man of the match Rayamajhi also squandered a couple of
chances but his hattrick more than made up for all the mistakes he committed on Thursday.
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