Bottom-of-the-table Friends Club took a huge stride in their survival bid in the Martyrs Memorial 'A' Division League as they pulled off their first victory with a 5-2 thumping of fellow relegation strugglers Brigade Boys Club on Friday.

Debutant winger Sushil Shah and Trinidadian forward Jamoul Anthony Francois scored two goals each and Shyam Babu Khyapchhki added another for Friends who wrested their first win of the season going into 10th match of the league. Cameroonian Dady Junior Wamba and veteran Anil Gurung were on target for Brigade at the Dasharath Stadium.

Friends climbed out of the relegation zone, from 14th to 12th spot, with six points. Brigade, meanwhile, dropped a spot to 13th, the second last position in the 14-team standings with equal six points with only three matches remaining in the league. Chyasal Youth Club are at the bottom of standings with five points, but they have a match advantage over the two sides. The bottom two teams will be relegated to 'B' Division at the end of the league.

Friends coach Mrigendra Mishra said that the league would have been over for his side if they had lost the match against Brigade. "The boys meet our target. League is like Covid-19 vaccine where three wins are must for survival," said Mishra, adding that they now need to win two more matches for survival in the 'A' Division. "We have kept the players at a closed camp to induce better understanding among the players."

His Brigade counterpart Sanoj Shrestha expressed frustration at his side's performance. "The performance was really bad. Our plan was to snatch three points from Friends," said Shrestha, who also expressed dissatisfaction over referee Prajwol Chhetri's decision. "The referee awarded two offside goals to the opponents. We could have been in a comfortable position had we won today. Now we must beat Chyasal in our upcoming fixture," he said.

The match saw U-19 age group player Sushil Shah open the scoring in the 14th minute with a curling freekick from 25-yard sending the ball above the defensive wall. But Cameroonian forward Wamba levelled the scores in the 25th through a freekick. He shot a well-placed low freekick beyond the reach of the diving Indian goalie Rahul Ramchandra Yadav.

Midfielder Kyapchhki restored Friends' cushion three minutes later in a counter attack. He easily turned the ball at the back of the net when he tapped a pass from Bikash Thapa, who beat custodian Gurpreet Singh while setting it up for Kyapchhki.

Friends went into the break with a 3-1 lead as Francois made a diving header inside the area to convert a freekick by Nisen Subba. The Trinidadian forward netted his second to take his league tally to four goals in the 76th when he beat an offside trap before collecting Preezen Tamang's pass at the edge of the area and fired past goalie Singh.

Shah made it 5-1 for Friends two minutes later with a flash of individual brilliance as he controlled Tamang's cross just outside the area and volleyed to net his second individual goal in his debut match leaving goalie Singh clueless.

Veteran Anil Gurung, who came as a second half substitute, netted the second goal for Brigade from penalty spot after Tamang brought down Brigade midfielder Jonathan Mbakop in the area.

In the late fixture at the same venue, Tribhuvan Army Club staged a late fightback to salvage a 1-1 draw against Jawalakhel Youth Club.

Army defender Suman Aryal hit the equaliser in the fading moments to cancel Jawalakhel's second-half lead through Onguna Junior.

The draw meant Army missed the chance to replace Manang Marshyangdi Club (MMC) in second place. They have 18 points from 10 matches, one point behind MMC who have a match advantage. Jawalakhel also remained unchanged at 11th place with nine points.

Following a goalless first half, Cameroonian forward Junior put Jawalakhel ahead eight minutes into the restart. The forward made a low ball finish from the area after exchanging swift passes with Rup Bahadur Lama.

As Jawalakhel were seemingly heading towards victory, Army hit back the equaliser in the last minute of the seven minutes stoppage time through Suman Aryal. The defender pounced in a cross by Jagjeet Shrestha from close range to rescue a point for the departmental team.   

Today's Fixture

Police Vs Satdobato

Time: 13:00 NST

Venue: ANFA Complex

Machhindra vs Chyasal

Time: 13:00 NST

MMC Vs Three Star

Time: 16:45 NST

Venue: Dasharath Stadium