Pokhara, January 1
Church Boys United stunned Machhindra Football Club 3-1 and advanced to the semi-finals of the 22nd Aaha-Rara Gold Cup here at the Pokhara Stadium today.
Ashish Chapagain scored a brace and Aashish Chaudhary netted one for the newly-promoted A division club.
The reigning Martyrs Memorial A Division League champions crashed out from the first match of the prestigious knock out tournament of mofussil.
Chapagain opened the scoring in the 23rd minute when he found the back of the nets in rebound after Machhindra goalkeeper Bishal Shrestha blocked Anjan Bista's attempt. Chapagain doubled the scores in first half injury time after he beat offside trap and scored past Shrestha. Chaudhary made it 3-0 in the 64th minute when he collected the ball inside the box before slotting into the first bar.
Saurav scored the consolation goal for Machhindra in the 89th minute. Church Boys defeated Nepal Police Club in their first match.
On Monday, Tribhuvan Army Club will take on Sankata Club in third quarter-final match of the tournament organised by Sahara Club. Top two teams will receive Rs 1.2 million and Rs 600,000 respectively.
A version of this article appears in the print on January 2, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
