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Kathmandu Friday March 01, 2002 Falgun 17, 2058.
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MPC beat Galaxians to meet
Sahara Blue in semis
Post Report
POKHARA, Feb 28: Star-studded Mahendra Police
Club (MPC) triumphed over the youthful exuberance of Galaxian Club to advance into the
semifinals of the Caravan Gold Cup football tournament with a 3-0 win on Thursday.
Regarded as pre-tournament favourites, MPC, who
made a direct entry into the quarterfinals, failed to match the high expectation of the
local crowd . On the other hand, Galaxian Club, caught the imagination of the crowd with
an entertaining brand of football. But their inability to translate opportunities left
them at the losing end.
While MPC looked sharp at the goal, translating
on three out of the total six opportunities, the Galaxians, despite having as many as a
dozen chances, failed on all of them including a penalty miss.
On top of that all, what Galaxian Club were
found wanting most in the match was their lack of confidence to take on the police outfit.
Their poor match temperament, arguing with the referee over an issue of ordinary-looking
foul in the 22nd minute, also casted the gloom on them. That only brought more harm than
good to them as the referee booked Prakash Dewan.
And it was not too long before the trouble
started befalling on them. In the 29th minute, MPC broke the deadlock to go 1-0 up. Ananta
Thapa, bringing a well-struck flag kick of Raju
Katuwal, unleashed a power-packed shot from the edge of the penalty box that only ended at
the back of the net.
The goal completely unsettled the Galaxians, and
that only helped MPC and Thapa to be more precise as he scored a beautiful goal two
minutes later. Taking a pass at the middle of the pitch, he beat the Galaxian keeper with
a thunderous long-range shot to put MPC 2-0 clear at the break.
Trailing by two goals, Galaxian Club tried
desperately to comeback into the match. Prabesh Katuwal, Babulal Hasta and Hridesh Thapa,
especially kept the spectators’ heartbeat high with their crisp passes in the MPC
territory. While their tireless effort failed to bear fruit, MPC widened the gap on
counterattack.
The Galaxians in a bid to score a goal, pushed
everyone upfield leaving enough space in the back. And 18 minutes into the second half,
Hari Khadka, who is considered a cool customer on such occasions, left the opposition
stunned with a sudden burst of speed and scored to give a comprehensive 3-0 lead.
Galaxian Club had a glorious chance to narrow
the deficit in the 67th minute when the referee penalised MPC player Deepak Poudel for
ball handling inside the penalty area. Surendra Tamang stepped up to take the shot but
failed to beat the police custodian Sanjeev Joshi, who showed sharp anticipation to
maintain a clean sheet.
With this win, MPC have set up meeting with
Sahara Club (Blue) in Saturday’s second semifinal. Manang Marshyangdi Club (MMC) and
Eastern Railways of Kolkata play in the first semifinal on Friday.
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