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MPC look at strikers to hit form
BIRATNAGAR, JAN 17 - Mahendra Police Club (MPC) will be looking forward to breach the seemingly unbreakable defense of Eastern Railways, Kolkata to defend the Mahendra Gold Cup at the local Shahid Maidan on Saturday.
The Kolkata outfit have not conceded a single field goal in the tournament and thwarted three of the four spot-kicks taken by Tribhuvan Club in the semifinal on Thursday. Railways goalie K Saurav seems to be in sublime form and will be hard to beat.
MPC captain Anil Adhikari knows the challenge and will depend on the striking prowess of his ace striker Hari Khadka, who is the leading goal-scorer in the tournament. Hari is also hot favourite for player of the tournament award along with Saurav.
"They have a classy goalkeeper and seem to capitalise on it by playing defensively and taking the game into tie-breaker," Adhikari told The Kathmandu Post. "But Hari has found his form and we look up to him to beat their goalie."
MPC is set to play in their normal 4-4-2 format with Dev Narayan Chaudhary to assist Hari up front as star striker Ramesh Budathoki is injured. "Ramesh is injured and we won’t risk him by playing in the final," Adhikari said.Narottam Gautam is also unfit and will not start the match but would be fielded as substitute if required. Adhikari is however concerned about the form of goalkeeper Mani Chamling, who has been showing poor judgment of aerial balls and conceding casual goals in the recent past. Though MPC’S strong attack and back seem to rescue them against weaker teams, strong teams like Manang Marshyangdi Club (MMC) have been capitalising on it.Adhikari has observed the Railways tactic of defensive game and playacting. "Nepali teams get irritated by Railways players acting and lose their cool. We will be conscious in the final."
MPC coach Yugambar Suwal however played down poor goalkeeping. "Railways definitely have brilliant goalkeeper but I am not worried about ours," Suwal said. "He has the talent and has won us tournaments in past. We will play our normal game and hopefully will come on top."
Railways manager Ajit Biswas on the other hand is looking up to his goalie to deliver. "We don’t have some of our regular players but Saurav is a class act and has been playing brilliantly in the local leagues in Kolkata," Biswas said.Biswas is aware of MPC’s physical toughness and promised to play a fair game. "We know Chaudhary and Khadka, and have tremendous respect for them. We can’t play rough with them," he added."We know they have good players but we will give them good run for their money. The spectators will get to see a closely and fairly contested final."Posted on: 2004-01-18 02:36
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