Kathmandu, January 5:

Manang Marsyangdi Club (MMC) suffered a 1-2 loss against Tribhuvan Army Club (TAC) while Gyanendra Armed Police Force (APF) Officers’ Club blanked Machhindra Football Club 3-0 in the Martyrs’ Memorial San Miguel ‘A’ Division League Football Tournament.

This is the first time since 2052 BS that MMC have suffered two consecutive defeats in the league. They were beaten by MPC by 2-1 on Monday.

In a TAC dominated game, skipper Janamat Karki and Chakra Tamang scored one goal each for the winners while skipper Kumar Thapa pulled one back for MMC. Dhan Bir Choudhary, captain Jibesh Pandey and Bhim Shrestha scored for APF.

The army team launched offensive right from the begining which paid off in the 21st minute when skipper Karki converted acrobatically off Raju Tamang’s cross. MMC’s Nabin Neupane denied a certain goal in the 11th minute as he cleared Ram Kumar Biswas’ header from the goal line.

In a rare MMC attack of the day, Sandip Rai was close to scoring in the 50th minute as his 40-yard strike hit the cross bar. Two minutes later, MMC goalie Bikash Malla saved Chandra Tamang’s header. TAC doubled the lead in the 53rd minute capitalising on MMC goalkeeper Malla’s misjudgement. Chakra Tamang lofted the ball over Malla seeing him come charging forward way outside the box.

Kumar Thapa reduced the margin in the injury time but by then it was too late. TAC coach Babukaji Dhaubanjar said that his team has made a very good comeback in the league. Skipper Janamat Karki said: “The win has given confidence in our team. We were always in the league except for the last few matches which we played poor.

Earlier, Dhanbir Chaudhary put APF in front in the 41st minute following a pass from Ganesh Lawati. Machhindra goalkeeper Ramesh Thapa Magar denied APF thrice in the 44th (Mani Pandit), 54th (Ajay Silwal) and 56th (Ganesh Lawati) but was not lucky in the 65th minute when Jibesh Pandey headed home on Man Sajan Rajbhandari’s cross to double his team’s lead. The 80th minute substitute Bhim Shrestha sealed APF’s victroy scoring in the injury time.

APF coach Nawal Rana said that his players played a good game. “One of the satisfactory point of the game was that we were able to attempt at the post regularly,” Rana said. He added that he will come up with new strategy and team combination with the start of the second leg.

Today’s match

• MPC vs Nabil Three Star @ 2:00pm