Jhapa Gold Cup: Police lost to Church Boys

Foreign players Abayomi Fokunle and Samir Tamang scored goals in the victory of Church Boys. Both goals were possible in the second half. In the 54th minute, Church Boys had an opportunity to score a penalty.

Fokunle used the opportunity to give the team the lead. Fokunle, who advanced the ball in a one-on-one situation, was tackled by police goalkeeper Sanjit Shrestha.

The referee showed a yellow card to the goalkeeper Sanjit and announced the decision to shoot a penalty against the church boys. Samir added the second goal for the team in the 77th minute. The cross pass given by the foreign player Fokunle from the right side of the field was directed by Samir to the post without any mistake. In the first 20 minutes of the game, the police played an aggressive game. However, in the second half, when the church boys dominated, the police remained under pressure.

In the 22nd minute, the goalkeeper Deep Karki, who is also the captain of the Church Boys, made an excellent save from Sanjay Dhimal of the police. In the 43rd minute, Sanjeev Lama's free kick from the police was controlled by the church boys' goalkeeper Deep with a volley. In the first half, the Church Boys could not make much of an attack on the Police goal post.

In the 26th minute, Church Boys' Suraj Jiu Thakuri's shot from near the box went wide. In the 37th minute, Fokunle's header against Rajesh Pariyar's free kick could not be powerful.

Police missed an opportunity to get back into the game in the 68th minute. His ball hit by Anish Rai hit the fence and came back. Police's Vikas Vick, who was inside the box, hit the rebound again. However, the shot hit the sky. In the 76th minute, Vikas scored a one-touch shot on a short pass by police captain Ram Waji, but the ball did not take the direction of the post.

In the first half, the Police could not play balanced in the second half. Chetan Ghimire, the coach of Police Club, said that the game was lost because they could not use the opportunities they created in the first half. He said that because there are no experienced players in the front line, the opportunities are lost. He said, "We couldn't score in the opportunities we had in the first half. The defense line became weak in the second half.

Church Boys coach Ruben Rai responded that the penalty opportunity helped the team to return to the game. It would have been difficult to win the game if we hadn't got the penalty. After scoring through the penalty, it became easier for us to score more goals and keep the game under control," Rai said.

Abayomi Fokun, a foreign player of Church Boys who scored a goal and passed for the second goal in Sunday's match, became the player of the match. He received Rs 11,000 in cash. In the Gold Cup, the first quarterfinal match will be played between APF of Armed Police and Bagmati Yuva Club on Monday.