Pokhara, January 29:

Top flight Nabil Three Star Club narrowly escaped an upset against the ANFA Academy teenagers to enter the quarter-finals of the seventh Aaha Gold Cup here at the Pokhara Stadium today.

The ‘A’ Division outfit had to sweat it out for 120 minutes before finally edging out the Academy boys 5-4 in tie breaker thanks to their custodian Kiran Chemjong who denied Jagjit Shrestha’s spot kick.

Unable to break the goalless stalemate in the 90 minutes as well as in the 30 minutes of extra time, the match was forced into the tie breaker. Rohit Chand, Shiva Shrestha, Rabi Thapa Magar and Sabindra Shrestha converted the spot kicks for the Academy before Chemjong denied Jagjit the fifth strike. Yugal Kishor Rai, Bikash Singh Chhetry, Anjan KC, Anil Ojha and Bijay Gurung all scored for Three Star.

Both Three Star and ANFA Academy squandered several goal scoring chances during the 120 minutes of play. Academy skipper Nirajan Malla was unlucky when his strike rebounded of the bar in the added time. Sanjeev Budathoki also wasted a chance for Three Star in the extra time. Rohit Chand of ANFA Academy was adjudged the man of the match. Three Star will meet defending champions Nepal Police Club on Monday for a place in the semi-finals.

Despite the loss, ANFA Academy coach Kishor KC praised his boys’ performance. “The fact that the match went into the extra time against the likes of Three Star shows that my boys played exceptionally well,” added KC. KC’s counterpart Bal Gopal Maharjan lamented on the wasted opportunities.

Dharan FC will take on BN Sporting Club of Bangladesh on Friday.