KATHMANDU, Jan 18: Three Star Club extended its lead to six points at the top of the points table with a 3-0 win over CMG Club Sankata on Friday while Iceberg Madhyapur Youth Association earned a last-gasp 1-0 win over Samsung Jawalakhel Youth Club to keep alive its survival hopes in the Martyrs Memorial Red Bull A Division Football League.
Super-sub James Davis Wright scored the decisive goal for Madhyapur two minutes from time in the relegation battle. Wright, the 60th minute replacement for Bed Shrestha, scored a low header from a crowded box in skipper Nirajan Rayamajhi´s corner.[break]
Had Jawalakhel won the match, it could have confirmed its place in A division making Madhyapur the third team, after Bauddha and Bansbari, to be relegated from top-tier football. However, with Madhyapur´s win, any of the teams currently lying in the 11th to 14th positions -- Himalayan Sherpa, APF, Jawalakhel and Madhyapur with 16, 15, 14 and 13 points respectively -- could be the last team to be relegated.
Three Star (Black) scores against Jawalakhel Youth Club. (Photo: Bikash Karki)
Himalayan Sherpa, which plays against Machhindra Club on Saturday, is yet to play two matches while the other three have a match each in hand. Madhyapur will take on Sherpa, Jawalakhel will lock horns with Police Club and APF will play against Friends in their last matches of the league.
Madhyapur coach Upendra Man Singh said his team earned vital points and the win will keep afloat his side´s hopes of remaining in the top flight until the last match. Singh also retracted his earlier statement made after his team´s 3-0 defeat against NRT. On the occasion, Singh had said that he was betrayed by his trusted players. However, he claimed on Friday that he did not mean it.
Singh´s counterpart Kishor KC said that relegation pressure had increased for his side following the defeat. "Players left the opponent unmarked during the corner," KC said about the goal conceded by his side. KC also expressed belief that his side could avoid relegation in the last match. "As we are scheduled to play after other relegation-threatened teams we are in a wait-and-see mode," opined KC.
In a drab affair, both the teams wasted a scoring chance each. Jawalakhel´s Raj Paudel fired straight at custodian Bikesh Kutu from close range in the 67th minute with only the latter to beat. Earlier in the 42nd minute, Kishor Duwa of Madhyapur was denied by custodian Sanam Ferland in a one-on-one situation.
In the late match of the day, Three Star netted all three goals in the second half as it strengthened its chances of finishing on top before the end of the first round. After playing 14 matches, Three Star has 32 points, six more than second-and third-placed RCT and Machhindra.
Machhindra has played a match less than the leader which is scheduled to play against Himalayan Sherpa and NRT before the completion of the first round, while Three Star will take on third-placed MMC in its last match.
Sankata that remained unchanged in the 10th place with 17 points is out of the race for Super Eight following the result.
Santosh Sahukhala, whose first four attempts failed to find the target, broke the deadlock in the 58th minute. Sahukhala made a brilliant finish with a one-touch strike from the six-yard box in an acute cross from Adewumi Femi. Sahukhala has now scored 12 goals, four behind leading scorer Yona Elias Ndabila of Saraswati.
Femi doubled the advantage in the 82nd minute, one minute after Sankata´s first choice custodian Ndoe Mbarga Pierre was replaced with Dipesh Yadav. Femi fired home an unstoppable header in a corner taken by Biraj Maharjan.
Bishnu Gurung who came in as a substitute for Bikram Lama scored six minutes after his entry with a solo effort unleashing a powerful strike from 25 yards in the stoppage time.
Meanwhile, there will be only one match on Saturday with Himalayan Sherpa taking on Machhindra Club.
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