Kathmandu, August 5:

Goalkeeper Sagar Gurung made two brilliant saves in tie-breaker to guide Pokhara-based Social Public Secondary School to a 3-1 win over Sautha Higher Secondary School of Morang in the Coca-Cola Inter-school National Football Tournament final here at the Dasharath Stadium today.

The match headed for the penalty shootout after a 1-1 deadlock in the regular 80 minutes of play as well as the 20 minutes of extra time. Puspa Chhetri had provided Social an early seventh-minute lead but Prakash Giri levelled the scores in the 23rd minute. Govinda Thapa, Bhupal Singh Gurung and Naresh Shrestha converted for Social School while only Prakash Giri managed to score from the spot for Sautha in the tie-breaker.

In a third-place decider, Gyankunja Secondary School of Pokhara overwhelmed Don Bosco Nilgiri School of Morang 6-1. Ramu Pariyar scored a brace and Govinda Poudel, Siris Thakali, Pradeep Gurung and Sizon Rokka added a goal each for the winners. Bikram Dhungana netted the consolation goal for Don Bosco.

The winners and runners-up received Rs 200,000 and Rs 100,000 respectively. Gyankunja earned Rs 50,000 and Don Bosco got Rs 25,000. Saumindra Bhattacharya, Managing Director of Coca-Cola, and Mahesh Bista, Senior ANFA vice-president, gave away the awards.

In all, 384 schools took part in the tournament organised by the All Nepal Football Association (ANFA). Only 10 teams — five of them from outside the Kathmandu Valley — qualified for the final round.