Birjesh Chaudhary scored the solitary goal as Brigade Boys Club defended the Lalit Memorial U-18 Football Championship title with a 1-0 win over Nepal Police Club in the final at the ANFA Complex in Satdobato on Sunday.

Chaudhary struck the winning goal in the 23rd minute for Brigade Boys, who had defeated the same team 3-0 in the group stage match. Boosted by inclusion of half a dozen of ANFA Academy products, Brigade Boys dominated the ball possession to apply consistent pressure on the departmental team. But they failed to break the stubborn Police defence in eary exchanges.

Brigade Boys threatened Police early in the sixth minute when Anjal Maharjan's header in Jay Gurung freekick sailed over the bar after taking a slight deflection off Police goalkeeper Nishant Khadka. In the resulting corner, Brigade Boys' Rejin Subba shot inches wide off the near post.

Brigade Boys' pressure finally told in the 23rd minute as Chaudhary made a easy finish from a close range. He collected a rebound that came off Police custodian Khadka, who had thwarted Prithivi Chaudhary's close range shot on goal. The departmental team's chance at goal came in the 70th minute but for Rabin Rai to head Sanju Sen's left flank cross above the bar.

Coach of the winning team Subit Karki was not surprised by the final result saying that his team was bill as the tournament favourites. "We were pre-tournament favourites and playing to the top billing from start to finish. It’s really a pleasing experience," said the 26-year-old who holds the AFC 'C' license coaching course. Karki, who was taking charge of a team for the first time, praised a strong defence of their opponents which made his team work hard for the victory.

Karki said his team had five members of the previous title-winning run. With the addition of another half a dozen of ANFA Academy players, his side was really strong. Brigade Boys team completed the current squad by bringing in six other players through open selection.

Police coach Bhola Silwal, a key member of the departmental team's senior squad, expressed satisfaction with the performance of his unfancied side. "I am happy with the overall performance of the boys. Our opponents were really strong one considering that half their squad was filled by ANFA Academy products," said the Nepali international, who was taking charge of the team for the first time. "We failed to utilize opportunities that came our way whereas Brigade Boys capitalised on the one real chance they got."

"We formed our team by picking up players through open selection. The tournament would have been more competitive had ANFA distributed Academy boys to all the teams on equal proportion. But we can take heart from the fact that our players gave a good fight against players who had the luxury of the proper ANFA training," said Silwal. Silwal said he was happy to have led the Police team to the U-18 final for the first time in four attempts.