Lalitpur, February 8

Fode Fofana scored the solitary goal as Prabhu Jawalakhel Youth Club defeated NIBL Friends Club 1-0 in the Qatar Airways Martyrs Memorial A Division League here at the ANFA Complex grounds today.

After a goalless first half, Fofana found the back of the nets in the 58th minute when he buried the ball into the bottom right corner of the goal.

With their fifth win, Jawalakhel moved up to fifth place with 18 points from 11 matches, while Friends remained at ninth with 14 points.

Friends were reduced to 10 men in the 62nd minute after Saulo De Aquino received the marching orders for an intentional foul on Adama Doumbia.

But JYC failed to make the numeric advantage count. Despite being a man down, Friends came close to levelling the scores in the 77th minute bur Shakti Rai missed the target narrowly following a pass from Uttam Rai. Jawalakhel’s Sujit Budhathoki ended up hitting the cross bar in the eighth minute of the injury time.

Goalscorer Fofana was named the Kelme man of the match.

In another match, Yeti Himalayan Sherpa Club beat Chyasal Youth Club 3-2 to come out of the relegation zone. Bijay Shrestha scored a brace and Tridev Gurung added one for Sherpa, while Hayato Wakino netted both goals for Chyasal.

With two rounds to go, Sherpa accumulated 10 points and moved to 11th position, while Chyasal are at the 10th place with 12 points. Brigade Boys Club (eight), Nepal APF Mahindra Team (five) and Saraswoti Youth Club (four) are struggling to remain in the A division. The 11th round will end with a match between NOC Manang Marshyangdi Club and New Road Team on Sunday.

Bijay Shrestha opened the scoring for Sherpa in the 28th minute when he netted the goal in rebound after Chyasal goalkeeper Alan Neupane blocked a shot from Stephene Samir Dieubeni. Tridev Gurung doubled the tally five minutes later with a powerful shot from long. Chyasal pulled one back in the 38th minute when he found the back of the nets following a corner from Muhommod Asif.

Bijay Shrestha restored twogoal cushion in the 51st minute when he scored on a pass from Khamir Glison Kandangwa, while Wakino scored his second goal of the match in the 89th minute to make it 3-2. Ulrich Siwe of Sherpa was named the Kelme man of the match.