The results made no difference in the standinds as Three Star stay third with 22 points, three more than Friends. JYC are ninth with 14 and APF 10th with 11 points.

Forward Joclyn Morgan gave Three Star an early ninth minute lead with a stunning strike from just inside the area following a Santosh Sahukhala set up. The former league champions were close to double their tally in the 20th minute but Sahukhala’s header was acrobatically punched away by APF goalie Samit Rajbhandari following a corner kick from Castory Mumbara.

However, a humourous blunder from Three Star custodain Kiran Chemjong allowed the APF to level the scores in the 24th minute. Ganesh Lawati struck the ball straight to Chemjong but the custodain ducked the ball, perhaps considering it as off target, letting the ball enter the goal.

Three Star were themselves to blame not to have walked away with three points missing on numerous occasions. Sahukhala was denied by APF goalie Rajbhandari before the forward shot wildly from close range after a Surendra Tamang pass in the 63rd minute.

“We lost vital points today due to the goalkeeping blunder,” said Three Star coach Bal Gopal Maharjan. APF manager Prem Shrestha said that holding Three Star was an achievement for them. “Sharing points against the team like Three Star is a satisfactory result,” said Shrestha adding that their team was now nicely set.

Earlier in the first match, Friends Club dominated the match but lost out on a 74th minute goal from Raj Kumar Ghising, scored from the spot. Friends squandered as many as half a dozen chances. Bharat Khawas swapped passes with Rajan Adhikari inside the area but the former’s shot was blocked by JYC goalie Min Basnet in the 33rd minute.

Three minutes later Ajad Pradhan missed a sitter when custodain Min Basnet completely misjudged a cross letting the midfielder alone to shoot the ball in an empty net. However, that wasn’t to be as Pradhan applied a weak shot but JYC defender Laxmi Shrestha almost conceded an own goal in an attempt to clear the ball from the goalline. The ball luckily rebouned of the cross bar.

JYC keeper Min denied Friends defender Deepak Bhusal’s long range free kicks twice — in the 52nd and 58th minutes, while the keeper made yet another save denying a Ajad Pradhan header in the 63rd minute. Ten minutes later, however, JYC scored the winner through a penalty kick. They were awarded the spot kick after Deepak Gurung handled the ball inside the area and Ghising sent goalie Sagar Gurung the wrong way.

“We were more often under pressure but they crumbled when we applied one and conceded the penalty,” said JYC assistant coach Rajaram Karki. Karki also said that the win have now greatly eased their relegation worries. His Friends counterpart Mrigendra Mishra rued the missed chances. “Bad luck. We missed too many easy chances,” said Mishra.

Mishra, meanwhile, informed that he has dropped their regular goalkeeper Rupak Shrestha from the sqaud. “I dropped him (Rupak) considering his suspicious performance during the match against NRT,” said Mishra. NRT were trailing Friends by 2-0 until the 88 minute before Friends conceded the two late goals that saw NRT book their berth for the AFC President’s Cup qualifiers. As the leader of the first leg was set to represent Nepal in the President’s Cup, NRT pipped NPC by one point, thanks to the draw. “As long as I am the coach, he (Rupak) will not play in my team,” said Mishra who came just short of blaming the custodian for throwing the match.