E-Kantipur

POKHARA, NOV 20 -

Yoko’s 25-yard scorcher gave visiting club Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi a hard fought 1-0 win Tribhuvan Army Club in the final of the Safal Pokhara International Cup on Saturday.

Yoko scored the all important goal in the first half of the added extra time after the match ended in a deadlock in the regu-lation time.

The win fetched the visiting club an amount of Rs 250,000, but what made the win more special was their ownership of two of the major knock out tournaments in Nepal.

The club have already claimed the Buddha Subba Cup in 2000.

The visitor’s statistics is a serious blow to Nepal Army who have yet to lay their hands in any of the major tournaments in Pokhara. The closest  Army have come to the title before today’s loss was their defeat in the Aaha Gold Cup two times.

In front of a packed partisan home crowd, Army club came into immense pressure to give their supporters something to cheer about. Had it not been for their keeper Gangaram Deuja, who was kept busy round the clock, Dhanmondi could have easily registered a more one-sided score-line.

Deuja was put to test as early as in the seventh minute when he dealt bravely a shot fired by Mustafa from point blank range. He had to confront a similar situation later towards the end of the match but this time around he injured himself while making save off Femi. 

Nevertheless Army showed improved level in the second half and

exercised their dominance over the foreign club. Their first chance of the day fell into Bikarna Shrestha whose powerful header in the 61st minute whisked past the post. Tanka Basnet went close 20 minutes later.

Deuja was later adjudged the best goalkeeper of the tournament. His team-mate Chun Bahadur Thapa bagged honours for the best defender and most valuable player, for which he won a Yamaha two-wheeler, while Dhanmondi’s midfielder Yoko and striker Everton were adjudged the best in their respective positions.

Pokhara-Xl coach Krishna Thapa was entitled with the title of best coach. All the winners of the titles were awarded

Rs 15,000 each. Hari Mahato of Army, Uttam Gurung of Pokhara-XI and Kester of Dhanmondi were highest scorers with two goals each.

After the match, Dhanmondi coach was full of praises for Nepal Army keeper Deuja. He conceded that the match turned out to be to difficult than they had expected.

Posted on: 2011-11-20 08:52

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