MPC tame MMC again to lift Caravan Cup

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POKHARA, March 4 : A double-strike from country’s number one marksman Hari Khadka led Mahendra Police Club (MPC) to a 2-1 win over Manang Marshyangdi Club (MMC) here Monday to lift the Caravan Gold Cup. This is the third failure that MMC have suffered in the title match against the police outfit in two months.

After two consecutive final losses in Birendra Memorial Football tournament and King’s Cup, this tournament lent MMC a golden opportunity to settle the score with their old nemesis. But despite dominating most of the match and creating more chances they were badly let down by poor finishing in either session.

On the other hand, MPC, who have good insight of their rivals played a waiting game and emerged out as winners at the end of the day.

The police outfit, after being pounded on by MMC’s relentless raids early on, put the pressure back on their rivals as the game wore on. And they were instantly ripped rich reward in the 14th minute when Khadka opened up scoring to put MPC 1-0.

MPC defenders Rakesh Shrestha, skipper Anil Adhikari, who so successfully shielded their goal from the opposition strikers for most of the opening session, let one through that saw MMC level at 1-1 at the stroke of half time.

Rajan Rayamajhi, after collecting a long pass from Chandra Gurung, fired a low shot beyond the stretching hands of MPC custodian Sanjeev Joshi. That would later bring some consolation to MMC as he was adjudged man of the match.

Much was expected of the two teams after their exciting semifinals where MMC quelled the challenge of Eastern Railways and MPC sweated it out to win on toss against Sahara Blue after being involved in what could be termed by the most enthralling encounter.

But the local crowd, who poured on to the stadium with hopes of another interesting match, were left disappointed as the final failed to produce enough sparks.

While MMC’s misery continued well into the second half, MPC added insult to their injury nine minutes into the session. Khadka, after being put clear with a through pass, outran the MMC  defenders to be at one-to-one with the keeper Binod Dangol.

Dangol, spotting his defenders deep in the middle, in his desperate measure to avert the danger left his territory. He did block the first attempt from Khadka but his weak block only landed the ball back to the MPC striker, who made no mistake this time to send home the winner.

They had a glorious chance to comeback into the match in the 62nd minute but Anil Subba, who charged on to the MPC territory from the deep, was fractionally wide with his shot. The luck continually deserted MMC, who otherwise had created as many as a dozen chances throughout the match, several of them close ones. And MPC defended the 2-1 score to take away the Cup and winners cheque of Rs. 50,000, relinquishing MMC to Rs. 25,000. 

Gauchan guides BCC to victory

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KATHMANDU, March 4 : Nepali under-19 international Shakti Gauchan guided Baluwatar Cricket Club (BCC) to a comfortable 79 run victory over Tribhuvan University Team in the ongoing Ganesh Man Singh Memorial cricket tournament being played at TU Ground, Kirtipur on Monday.

BCC’s decision to bat first after winning the toss seemed to be backfiring as the openers Sagar Pant (7) and Rikesh Lama (12) got back to the pavilion by the time the team score reached 35 runs. But Bardan Chalise and Gauchan coming in at one down and two down used their international experience to steady the innings with the third wicket partnership of 83 runs.

Gauchan played an attractive innings of 62 runs (76 balls) with the help of five fours before offering a catch off the bowling of Ajay Singh. Chalise’s innings of 40 runs (54 balls), studded with six fours, was terminated when he was trapped in front of the wickets by Singh. The only other notable performance came from Yug Basnet who contributed 22 runs (26 balls) as BCC were bundled out for 193 runs in the 38th over. Sanjay Hamal was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets while Durga Nath Subedi and Singh grabbed two wickets each.

Chasing a formidable target of 194 runs in 40 overs, TU never looked to be in contention and lost wickets at regular interval. Rabindra Thapa and Purushottam Bhattarai scored 28 and 19 runs as none other batsmen made any impression. TU were eventually bowled out for 114 runs in 32.1 overs and fittingly Gauchan grabbed the last wicket with the very first ball of his spell. Anil Amatya was the main tormentor of TU taking three wickets in his spell of eight overs conceding just 14 runs. Yug Basnet chipped in with two wickets to cap his valuable performance with the willow.

Kathmandu Khel Mandal take on Chabahil Cricket Team on Tuesday.

Friends’ Club pip Rupandehi for final berth

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BUTWAL, March 4 : Friends’ Club continued their winning march to reach the Tilottama Gold Cup Football final as they came back from a goal down to put off Rupandehi XI’s
challenge scoring a 2-1 win here on Monday.

It was their second win the identical score in as many days. They had defeated Youth Sports’ Club of Birgunj Sunday on their way to the semifinals.

Nirajan Rayamajhi hammered the decisive blow for Friends’ Club four minutes from time in the second half while the match remained evenly poised in the first session, with score levelled at 1-1.

Both the teams entered the field with full of confidence and played offensively. And the partisan crowd that filled the local Western Region Police Training Centre ground erupted in the 3rd minute when striker Rupandehi Ritesh Khadka translated a Andra Thapa pass into a beautiful goal for a 1-0 lead.

Building pressure on the opposition, Rupandehi created a couple of chances but failed to beat Friends’ Club keeper on both occasions. He denied Bhimkaji Gurung’s powerful drive from the penalty area and followed that with another equally credible save off Andra Thapa five minutes later to limit Rupandeshi to the lone goal.

Friends’ Club, gradually started to push themselves up and they almost equalised in the 19th minute through Kailash Dangol. But his thunderous shot crashed with the post and went out. Despite breaking through the rival defence quite frequently in this period, they were only ended up with more frustration. Rayamajhi failed to put away a chance in the 21st minute; in the 23rd minute Sushil KC’s put his shot wide and a minute later Bal Gopal Maharjan’s nice heading effort was denied by the Rupandehi custodian.

It was only in the 40th minute that Friends’ Club put the game back on level terms when Sushil KC scored off a pass from Nirajan Rayamajhi.

The second half of play was also plagued by poor finishing as both the sides squandered a number of lost opportunities. And after much fettering, Rayamajhi sealed the fate of Rupandehi when he started off the midfield, took on a couple of defenders and scored the winning goal.

NRT will play with Manang Marshyangdi on Tuesday.