Football
Sabitra bags another hat-trick, Army crush Waling
APF constantly pressurised the opponent box from the beginning and continued their fine form after the break as well.Sports Bureau
Sabitra Bhandari scored four goals and Anita KC bagged a brace as Armed Police Force (APF) Club thumped Biratnagar Metropolitan City 7-0 in the National Women’s Football League on Sunday, while Tribhuvan Army Club got their first win after thrashing Waling Municipality with the same scoreline thanks to Bimala Chaudhary's hat-trick.
APF took the lead in the 9th minute when KC tapped in from near the post after Biratnagar goalkeeper Kalpana Karki spilled a shot from Anjali Yonjan. Bhandari doubled the lead in the 25th minute following a solo run from half-way and added her second and team’s third three minutes before the break.
APF constantly pressurised the opponent box from the beginning and continued their fine form after the break as well. Saru Limbu added the fourth in the 72nd minute before Bhandari completed her hat-trick two minutes later. KC got her second goal of the game in the 80th minute and Bhandari scored her fourth in the 89th minute to complete the seven-goal rout at the ANFA Complex.
This is the second hat-trick in two games for the national team striker Bhandari, who is also Nepal’s top scorer on 38, and leads the scoring chart with seven goals this season.
Biratnagar coach Paras Chaudhary said they wanted to concede the fewest goals possible but their strategy “did not go as planned”.
“APF is a big team with star players. For a guest team like us, our fight is with other teams our equal,” he said. “Our strategy was to defend and that did not work.”
For APF assistant coach Janak Singh Tharu, the win was a big boost ahead of their Tuesday’s clash against another departmental side Army, who also showed their dominance in the league with a 7-0 win over Waling earlier in the day.
“We wanted to score more but some of our best chances in the second half were wasted,” said Tharu.
“Our tough fight is coming and we are looking forward to it,” he added.
Army’s Chaudhary fired the departmental side in front in the 15th minute converting a pass from Sharmila Thapa. Dipa Rai extended the lead in the 28th minute when she was fed by Sapana Lama before Thapa made it 3-0 just before the break.
The goal scoring spree continued in the second half when Chaudhary got her individual second capitalising on a mistake from Waling foreign signing Venessa Noelle six minutes after the hour mark. Chaudhary completed her hat-trick nine minutes later, sending in a rebound from Thapa. Substitutes Hema Chaudhary and Bhujanga Rai rounded off the victory scoring in the 89th and additional time respectively.
The win gave Army four points after two games, with their first match ending in a goalless stalemate with Nepal Police Club. APF lead the table with six points from two matches.
“After a goalless draw in the opening day, we needed to score… which we did. But now our focus is the next match against AFP,” said Army coach Raju Tamang.
Waling coach Dilip Thapa said: “We were without our key defender due to injury. On the field our players could not coordinate and we conceded.”
Chaudandigadhi Municipality will face Chandrapur Municipality in Monday’s only fixture.