With the completion of eight rounds, the Martyrs Memorial 'A' Division League appears to be heading toward a thrilling climax as the top seven sides are separated by only five points.

As only five rounds remain for the coronation ceremony, Tribhuvan Army may regret dropping two points against NRT in their eighth-round clash. The army team had a three-point lead over contenders Machhindra and defending champions Manang Marshyangdi Club, both of whom are tied on points, but MMC find themselves third on goal difference.

The goalless stalemate against NRT still puts Army atop the standings, but their lead has been narrowed to a single point and they are yet to play the relatively tougher fixtures in comparison to the defending champions, Manang.

Army coach, Nabin Neupane, lamented his team's failure in bagging three points against NRT but was still optimistic about his team's title aspirations.

"A win would certainly have been valuable in our title quest. However, we still remain at the top," he said.

"We are creating many chances, more than our opponents, but somehow are lacking in terms of finishing. Despite working on it at the training ground, we have yet to produce the results in the matches," Neupane said. "We still have five matches to play and we are optimistic about emerging as the winner."

With the completion of 56 matches of the league, the Army team has 17 points from their eight matches, with five wins, two draws and a loss. Despite sharing identical results, Machhindra find themselves second owing to the deduction of a point as they had finished second from the bottom in the previous season of the most coveted football tournament in the country. The tournament did not have a provision of relegation last year. Record eight-time champions, Manang, are the only unbeaten side this season and have 16 points and third place in the team standings with four wins and four losses.

Four-time champions - Three Star are placed fourth with 14 points while NRT, Jawalakhel Youth and Sankata are tied at 12 points each in the next three positions, only separated by a goal’s difference. Nepal Police Club have 11 points and are placed eighth, while four points separate the next five sides: Chyasal Youth lead the pack in the ninth position with nine points, while the Armed Police Force have yet to meet expectations - they are languishing just a place above the relegation spot, with five points.

These are tough times for Saraswoti Youth Club who have yet to secure a win in the league this season and are very close to being relegated.

Veteran forward, Santosh Sahukhala, of Chyasal Youth Club leads the chart of highest goalscorers with six goals, followed by APF's Aashish Lama, who has scored five of his team's seven goals this season. Manang's Bimal Rana, Police's Suman Lama and Army's Nawayug Shrestha are all tied at four goals each.

The ninth round of the league begins with a mid-day clash of departmental teams - Nepal Police and Armed Police Force, followed by a 3pm blockbuster between Machhindra and Three Star, on Monday. Himalayan Sherpa play a struggling Saraswoti in Tuesday's first match after which the leaders, Army will take on Jawalakhel Youth.

In the only match on Wednesday, defending champions Manang play runners up of the previous season, Sankata, while the last two matches of the ninth round on Thursday would see Friends taking on Chyasal and NRT battling it out with Brigade Boys.