A lone goal from Subash Gurung in the added time of the first half was enough to seal the victory for NRT over MMC studded with big names of Nepali football. Capitalizing on a defensive error by MMC defender Deepak Bhusal, Gurung made a skilful show in the box before firing the ball past the net. [break]
NRT, coming up with more than half a dozen new young players following the move of their star players to other clubs, taught the lesson of technicality to MMC whose performance was marred by poor coordination among the players.
MMC even failed to take advantage of a 10-man NRT during the last 16 minutes of the game after the exit of NRT defender Raghu Prajapati following an injury. NRT were unable to field a replacement for Prajapati as they had already substituted three players.
Playing short passes and putting up a technically sound performance, NRT piled up immense pressure on MMC during the first half. NRT time and again created attractive moves; however, they failed to convert those opportunities.
In the second half, MMC put up an improved show and created pressure, but could not materialize their dream of scoring. In the first half as well, MMC had failed to take lead in the 18th minute when their skipper Tashi Tshering failed to beat the goalie in a one-on-one position inside the box.
Santosh Sahukhala, the highest paid domestic footballer, failed to score twice for MMC and Anjan KC´s freekick goal for MMC in the 51st minute was ruled offside by the referee.
NRT coach Raju Shakya expressed satisfaction over his side´s performance and termed the match as a ´trial´ of his new boys. "Many players in the squad have not received training, and if they got good training they could do well in the future," Shakya said.
"I was not worried about winning or losing, but just wanted to check the strengths and weaknesses of the team and prepare for the league," Shakya said, adding that many of his players have fitness problems.
Shakya´s counterpart Bal Gopal Maharjan said that he had not expected such a result, and also praised the opponents for their hard effort. He slammed his senior players for lack of communication with teammates. He termed the defeat as ´base for improvement´ in other tournaments.
"There was lack of coordination among players before the interval and the boys also failed to utilize goal scoring opportunities," Maharjan said, adding that they conceded the goal due to defensive error.
Related story
Two loaded guns seized
