Meanwhile, Armed Police Force (APF) thrashed Deshbhakta Youth Club of Nawalparasi 10-1 on Wednesday to keep alive its quarterfinal hopes. APF, which had lost 2-1 to RCT in the first match, is level on three points with RCT in the Group B points table. Three Star has six points from two matches while Deshbhakta has crashed out of the tournament following its second consecutive defeat in the group stage. APF will take on Three Star in the next match of the group stage while RCT will have a relatively easy match against Deshbhakta.[break]
Deshbhakta coach Jeet Bahadur Pun said that his side suffered a huge defeat due to lack of preparation. "We didn´t have a big target in the tournament but we were not expecting such results. We´ll try to improve our performance in the last match," said Pun. Deshbhakta had lost 6-0 to Three Star in its first match.
National team midfielder Rajendra Rawal scored four goals against Deshbhakta to became the fourth player after Karna Limbu, Santosh Sahukhala and Anil Gurung to score a hat-trick in the tournament.
Rawal scored his first in the 14th minute and added three more in the 26th, 43rd and 54th minutes. Sudeep Shikhrakar, Nabin Lama, Jangbu Sherpa, Bishal Shrestha and Ganesh Lawati added a goal each for APF. Ajay Paudel of Deshbhakta conceded an own goal in the 53rd minute to add to his team´s woes. Ashish Shakya scored a consolation goal for Deshbhakta in the 62nd minute.
APF coach Janak Singh said that his team took full advantage of the weak opponent and achieved a huge-margin victory.
In the day´s late kick-off, Three Star dominated the show against RCT to register a 5-1 victory. RCT player Niraj Remi Magar conceded an own goal in the sixth minute of the match to hand an early 1-0 lead to Three Star.
Suman Lama leveled the scores in the 20th minute but Santosh Sahukhala made it 2-1 in the 24th minute.
Three Star defender Biraj Maharjan scored in the 30th minute with a stunning 30-yard shot that left experienced RCT goalkeeper Deelip Chhetri clueless.
Three Star dominated the second half as Jagjeet Shrestha and Dodoz added a goal each to seal a 5-1 win.
Three Star coach Pradeep Humagain applauded defender Biraj Maharjan for his performance and the goal. He said that his team was getting better with every match.
RCT coach Madhu Karki said that his side suffered the defeat because of weak defense and that his side was not expecting much from the tournament.
Thursday´s matches
Army Vs Tusal @ 14:00 NST
MMC Vs Sankata @ 16:00 NST
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