Kathmandu, November 19

Himalayan Sherpa Club outplayed Tribhuvan Army Club 1-0 and entered the final of the first Chandragiri Gold Cup Football Tournament here at the Naikap grounds today.

In the semi-final match, Tridev Gurung’s second half solitary goal was enough for Himalayan Sherpa to beat the departmental side. Himalayan Sherpa will now face NIBL Friends Club in the final match on Tuesday. Friends beat CMG Club Sankata 1-0 in Saturday’s semi-final match.

Gurung found the back of the nets in the 56th minute capitalising on miscommunication between  TAC goalkeeper Maheshwor Shrestha and his defenders at a time when the custodian was not in his proper position.

Both the teams wasted a couple of goal scoring chances. TAC came close to scoring in the 10th minute but Erik Bista’s free-kick was cleared by Himalayan Sherpa’s defenders, while Himalayan Sherpa’s Piyush Henry failed to give proper direction to the ball in the 21st minute.

TAC’s Bista was once again denied by Himalayan Sherpa goalie Arpan Karki in the 26th minute, while the shot stopper also punched out Naresh Meche’s shot.

After the interval, Himalayan Sherpa had better ball possession. Henry failed to find the back of the nets in one-on-one situation with TAC custodian Shrestha moments after the resumption and skipper Man Bahadur Tamang also wasted a chance in one-on-one with Shrestha in the 49th minute before Gurung put Himalayan Sherpa ahead in the 56th minute.

Himalayan Sherpa’s skipper Tamang wasted a chance to double the lead as he failed to convert in an open post in the 80th minute. Himalayan Sherpa’s Sajit Moran was adjudged the man-of-the-match and got Rs 3,000. The winners and runners-up of the tournament will get Rs 500,000 and Rs 250,000 respectively, while the best player and the highest goal scorer will take home Rs 30,000 each.