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Kathmandu Tuesday February 19, 2002 Falgun 07, 2058.
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Kathmandu Club into semis
Post Report
KATHMANDU, Feb 18 : Aided by Rajkumar
Ghishing’s hattrick, Kathmandu Club registered their first ever semifinal appearance
in any major football tournament as they crushed Kurseong Academy 6-2 in the last
quarterfinal of the King’s Cup knockout football tournament on Monday.
With players from either side resorting to
rough play, referee Dilip Rajak had to point to the spot kick four times and show seven
yellow cards. Kurseong Norbu Lama was the only player to convert the spot kick as rest
three players including two from Kathmandu Club spoilt the spot kicks.
With the Monday’s elimination both the
visiting teams from India are out of contest in the tournament.
The improved Kathmandu Club will take on
Mahendra Police Club (MPC) while Manang Marsyangdi Club (MMC) will face off the challenge
of New Road Team (NRT) in the tournament’s semifinals.
From the outset Kathmandu Club took a firm
control over the visitors, who were lacking in team combination. Following a much slower
first quarter, Ramesh Gyawali accelerated the pace, breaking the deadlock in the 21st
minute. Gyawali, famous for his long-range shots, unleashed a powerful shot from 25 yards
that sailed into the net beating Kurseong goalkeeper Rajiv Lakhandri for a 1-0 lead.
Once Gyawali opened scoring Kathmandu Club
goals started to come in hoards as they scored freely penetrating Kurseong defence.
In the 32nd minute, Ghishing, who later
scored the second hattrick for his team in the tournament, netted his first. The poor form
of goalie Lakhandri was the cause behind the goal as he failed to collect a straight one
from Ghishing to go 2-0 down.
Two minutes later, captain Narayan Manandhar
completed the task initiated by Ghishing to take his team at 3-0 lead. Ghishing, showing
sublime skills beat two Kurseong defenders and Lakhandri and provided a pass to his
captain who did not miss the opportunity. The goal forced Kurseong coach Dinesh Thapa to
replace keeper Lakhandri by Tashi Sherpa.
Norbu Lama raised some hope of a fight back
from the visitors when he converted a spot kick offered after Ramesh Gyawali brought down
Yadap Chettri inside the 18-yard box in the dying minutes of the first half. Lama coolly
guided the ball inside the net to open the scoring for Kurseong.
In the second half, Thapa’s effort to
control the Kathmanduites’ scoring streak did not work when Ghising scored his second
and team’s fourth two minutes into the second half. This time, the maker was Amrit
Bajracharya from the right flank.
In the 52nd minute, Ghishing completed his
hat-trick to become the fourth player to achieve such a feat in the tournament. Hari
Khadka, Ramesh Budathoki and his teammate Rajkumar Shrestha are other players to score
treble at the King’s Cup. Ghishing also became the second top scorer of the
tournament with five goals to his name- four short of Hari Khadka, who leads the
scorers’ chart.
The match looked like a one sided affair when
Krishna Malakar, adding insult to injury for the visitors, took the tally to 6-1 in the 63
rd minute. Chettri scored in the 78th minute for the visitors but it was too late for any
miracle then.
Tuesday’s semifinal: Manang
Marsyangdi Club (MMC) Vs New Road Team (NRT) 2:00 PM |
