: Sulav Maskey scored a hat-trick as Laxmi Hyundai Manang Marshyangdi Club (MMC) lifted the first title of the season on Saturday defeating Nepal Army Club 4-1 win in the final of Gurkha Cup football tournament held at the Dasharath Stadium in Kathmandu. Saturday´s defeat also ended Army´s hopes of lifting its first trophy in the capital after nearly two decades. TheBirthday Cup held in 2050 BS was the last major tournament won by Army in the capital. The departmental team had lost to the same opponent, MMC, in the final of Suwarna Cup in 2063 BS. On the occasion, Army was defeated 4-3 in tie-breaker following a 3-3 draw. Maskey, included in the starting line-up for the first time in the tournament, gave MMC an early eighth minute lead and netted a brace in the second half to deal a big blow to the departmental team that had kept a clean sheet before the final. Anil Gurung netted the second goal for MMC. In the group stage, Army had defeated MMC 1-0. Champion MMC bagged a purse of Rs 1 million while runner-up Army received Rs 500,000. "It feels great to achieve a hat-trick in the first match of the tournament I am included in the starting line-up," said a shy Maskey. Maskey, who got a rare start due to the one-match suspension for two African players -- forward Yona Elias Ndabila and defender Azeez Saheed, gave MMC an early lead firing home into the far post from the area in Shiva Shrestha´s cross. Shrestha had collected the ball after Army defender Jeetendra Karki failed to make a clearance. "We conceded an early goal before the team had settled properly and that goal became the turning point of the match," Army skipper Mahednra Khawas said. Anil Gurung shot from the edge to double the advantage in a cross fromDeepak Gurung, who was set up by Bishal Rai. Gurung was denied by Army custodian in the 34th minute while in the 42nd his header in Sujal Shrestha´s cross went inches off the target. Kashiraj Karki, the best forward of the tournament, pulled a goal back in the 29th to give some hope of comeback to Army. Karki scored from the six-yard box beating custodian Bishal Shrestha in Tanka Basnet´s pass. Maskey made it 3-1 in Rupesh KC´s cross three minutes into the second half when he was left unmarked in the area. "We conceded the first and third goals due to defensive errors," Army coach Yogambar Suwal said during the post-match conference. "Besides this, the keeper also could not perform up to his level and such things happen in football." Maskey sealed the victory one minute from time when he unleashed a powerful shot from the edge stunning custodian Phul Bahadur Lama. "We rectified the mistakes we had made in the group match against Army," said MMC coach Amrit Panta who was making his comeback in football after nearly three decades. "We played in defensive style in the group match, but we played an offensive game today," said Panta, who was the coach of MMC when it climbed from C to A division and took charge of the A division team of MMC for the first two season somethree decades ago. "We had planned to score an early goal and we succeeded in our strategy." MMC skipper Sagar Thapa, adjudged the defender of the tournament, saidthe match was tougher than he had expected. "We played under pressure today as we had lost the group stage match against the same opponent," Thapa said. Unlike in the group stage match, Army looked under pressure and its key players -- winger Tanka Basnet and Tek Bahadur Budathoki -- were under tight marking. MMC goalie Bishal Shrestha made a brilliant save to deny Jeetendra Karki´s freekick in the 36th. Raju Tamang´s powerful 25-yard strike inthe 65th minute hit the post and Tanka Basnet´s close-range strike was prevented by custodian Shrestha. "The situation could have been different had Raju Tamang´s shot entered the net," Army coach Suwal said, adding that lack of experience, poor judgment and inconsistency in performance were some of the reasons for the defeat. Meanwhile, MMC and Army players shared best players and coach awards taking home three each. Thebest players in all four positions and the best coach bagged Rs 50,000 each while the overall best player Tanka Basnet of Army received a motorbikeP
Posted on: Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:06:43 +0000
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