KATHMANDU: A one man show from defender Rohit Chand gave underdogs Machhindra Football Club a place in the semi-finals of the British Gurkha Cup Football Tournament with a 1-0 win over Armed Police Force (APF) Club today.

Rohit produced a stunner in the second minute and remained in the frame till the final whistle denying most of the attacking movements from APF. The APF defenders failed to clear a weak low free kick from Ram Sharan Sagar and Rohit perfectly converted his powerful shot from the edge of the area that stunned goalkeeper Chandan Sardar.

APF coach Maheshwor Mulmi couldn’t stop appreciating the goal from Rohit and his performance. “That was a nice goal which pushed us to the back foot. We dominated the second half of the match but they (Machhindra) defended us well,” said Mulmi.

APF were close to level the scores in the 74th minute when Ganesh Lawati’s header on a chip from Jivesh Pandey beat the goalkeeper but Rohit made a brilliant run to clear the ball from the goal line. The under-19 product of ANFA also struck a powerful free kick in the 37th minute but APF custodian foiled the ball.

Machhindra were a coordinated team in the first half setting the game and attacking the strong APF. Bishnu K.C was on the frame in the 8th minute when his firmly struck shot from inside the area sailed inches away from the bar. Going into the second half with a 1-0 lead, Machhindra coach Narottam Shakya decided to shift into defensive mode and it was APF who kept on attacking. Jivesh hit a perfect shot close from the area in the 50th

minute but Machhindra custodian Bishal Magar punched the ball for a corner. Two minutes later Top Bahadur Bista missed on a one-on-one with Bishal as the latter’s judgement to come across the line paid dividend.

Machhindra coach Shakya said his team gave an unexpected performance. “We came here to give a tough challenge though we were not sure of winning the match but my team played very well. Especially, it was Rohit who won the match for us,” said the jubilant coach. Machhindra will now play the newly structured Manang Marshyangdi Club in the semi-finals, who stunned the star studded New Road Team (NRT) 1-0 in last eight.

It is the first time Machhindra have progressed so far in any major domestic tournament in their 39 years history. After the club’s establishment in 1972, they participated in the B Division League

from 1977 till they got promoted to ‘A’ in 2006. The last they advanced to the knock-out stage was in the Birthday Cup of 2006 where they played a pre-quarter final match.

In the first semi-final match on Tuesday, title favourites Nabil Three Star will take on Ranipokhari Corner Team (RCT).