Bara, February 10

Morang Football Club defeated Nava Janajagriti Youth Club ‘White’ 4-1 on penalties and advanced to the semi-finals of the Ruslan ninth Simara Gold Cup here at the Simara Stadium today.

The match was decided in tie breaker after both the teams were deadlocked at 1-1 in the regulation period of 90 minutes.

Morang’s Niraj Basnet, Buddhiman Rai, Bikram Limbu and Deepak Rai converted their shots from the spot. NJYC’s Bijay Shrestha netted goal, while Man Bahadur Tamang and Saurav Magar failed to convert their shots.

Earlier, NJYC’s Bijay Shrestha opened the scoring in the 66th minute capitalising on a poor clearance from Morang defender in Victor’s attempt. Morang’s Bhuwan Basnet levelled the tally in the 75th minute when he scored following a pass from Yogesh Gurung. NJYC’s Suraj Singh Thakuri was named the man-of-the-match.  Morang coach Paras Chaudhary said he was not satisfied with the way his boys played. “The match went to penalties after our players failed to covert the goal scoring chances. We need to put up an improved game in the semi-finals,” said Chaudhary.

NJYC coach Nabin Maharjan said his side lost match due to lack of coordination among the players. “We lost the match despite taking the lead. And we were unlucky in tie-breaker,” said Maharjan. On Sunday, Tribhuvan Army Club will take on Nepal APF Club in the second quarter-final match.