The host Sahara Club has ended the silver year of the Aha-Rara Gold Cup happily by lifting the trophy on its home turf. Sahara ended a 12-year wait by defeating strong rivals Jawalakhel Youth Club 2-0 in the final held at the Pokhara Stadium on Saturday.

Pokharel fans celebrated as Sahara, which had previously won the Gold Cup in 2070, lifted the title for the second time. In the 25th minute of the game, Mukund Kumar Niure flicked a header into the net from captain Sushil Lama's corner kick to give Sahara the lead. The first half ended with a 1-0 lead. In the 73rd minute of the game, Daniel Badaru scored a powerful header from Sushil Lama's free kick to secure the team's victory. Jawalakhel had to settle for runner-up status again after 14 years.

Sahara's strategy was to prevent Jawalakhel's forward Nicholas Odane from playing Hamilton. Sahara succeeded in this strategy. After their reliable striker was besieged, Jawalakhel's strategy of using other forwards in place of Nicholas did not work. Jawalakhel coach Sunil Kumar Shrestha admitted that the performance of his foreign players was not as expected. ‘We did not get the score we expected from the foreign players,’ he said. ‘We could not break Sahara’s combination. There was a problem with finishing.’ He said that despite everyone’s efforts, there was no success. Shrestha said that Yuvraj Dhakal’s red card against Abha FC Uzbekistan affected his team.

Sahara coach Sunil Thapa Magar, who was in the team as a manager when they won the title for the first time, expressed happiness at being able to keep the trophy at home on the occasion of the silver year. He dedicated his victory to former Sahara player Shyam Bahadur Gurung and former captain Hem Bahadur Gurung. He mentioned that the players played with high morale in the final despite playing well in the previous match and not scoring. He said, ‘The players played with 100 percent, the entire credit for the victory goes to the players.’

12 teams, including 3 foreigners, participated in the competition. Sahara defeated Hong Kong’s Gorkha International Football Club 1-0 in the pre-quarters, Nepal Police Club in the quarterfinals, and Manang Marsyangdi Club in the semifinals in sudden death to reach the final. Jawalakhel defeated Machhindra Club in the pre-quarters, Church Boys in the quarterfinals, and Abha FC of Uzbekistan in the semifinals. Along with the title, Sahara received Rs. 1.4 million and runner-up Jawalakhel received Rs. 7 million.