Army took 2-0 lead in the first half through Hari Mahato and Amrit Basnet, while Jukti KC added another in the second half to seal the victory.
Hari materialized the NAC´s quest for goal in the 26th minute in his solo effort. He beat defender Lokbandhu Gurung, dribbled past custodian Manish KC and rolled the ball into the empty post. Four minutes later Amrit added another capitalizing a ball that rebounded hitting the pole.
Likewise, Jukti who made his debut for NAC in the second half of the match added the third to widen the goal difference. Jukti netted taking advantage of the opponent goalie, who was far from the post utilizing a long range pass from Raju Tamang. Jukti who exhibited brilliant performance throughout the match was adjudged man-of-the-match.
“My team performed remarkably,” NAC coach Rajukaji Shakya commented after the match. “They judged the opponent to be weak and showed some over-confidence. However, I´m satisfied with the team,” he added.
NAC which dominated the match against the runners up of last edition were denied of scoring for several times as the opponent custodian Manish made several spectacular saves. Manish denied three one versus one chances of scoring.
There seemed to be lack o experience in the HSC´s performance. The defenders failed to make good coordination among themselves and the strikers too failed to utilize good chances.
“We were bound to defeat due to lack of coordination among the players and we are also playing match with NAC for the first time. The boys also failed to utilize several good chances of scoring,” HSC coach Nirmal Lama commented.
(Photos by Dipesh Shrestha.)
Related story
Desperate search for missing girls as nearly 80 dead in Texas f...
