APF Football Club eased pressure earning their first point after they played a 0-0 draw against Three Star Club in the Martyrs Memorial 'A' Division League at the Dasharath Stadium in Tripureshwar.

The rock-bottom team looked on course not only to open accounts in the standings, but also earned their first victory. But the departmental team's poor finishing cost them two points. They climbed one spot from the bottom after the fourth match. Three Star are joint fifth with five points playing equal four matches.

"Of course, the first point releases some pressure from us. From the way we played, created opportunities and dominated the game, we should have won the game. We played better today than in the last three games," said APF coach Kumar Thapa. "Earning one point from 12 is not good, but we have opened the scoring and that's an achievement. There are some other teams that have two points after playing equal matches and this point could be vital at the end (relegation battle)," he said.

While the departmental team came into the match looking for the first point, the three-time champions Three Star were also in search of a second victory. They have not won a single match after beating Chyasal Youth Club 3-0 in the opener.

Though the first half was much balanced, the departmental team outplayed the Patan-based opponents after the restart creating hosts of opportunities. It was, however, Three Star who created the first chance inside 10 minutes when forward Bijaya Bhujel failed to meet Ritik Kumar Khadka's cross inside the area.

APF replied moments later with two attempts on quick succession but Cameroonian custodian Priso Njanga denied both of them. First he grabbed midfielder Pradip Lama's strike in a comfortable fashion and later he made a long stretch diving save to deny captain Nabin Lama's strike from the edge of the area.

Three Star came closer to scoring at the stroke of half an hour before Cameroonian defender Raphael Rim's header in Hemanta Thapa Magar freekick sailed inches above the bar. Later, Nepali international defender Ananta Tamang's flick header missed the target by inches in midfielder Thapa Magar's corner. They again created remarkable chance moments before the break as defender Tamang ended up tapping wide from the six-yard box in a long freekick by captain Bikram Lama.

The departmental side controlled ball possession after the restart and kept Three Star players busy defending. Their best chance of the match came five minutes into the restart when forward Aashish Lama's tapping from the crowded six-yard box in a low freekick missed the target by inches.

Three Star goalie Njanga came to the rescue in the mid second half when he dived to grab midfielder Pradip Lama's cross before onrushing forward Aashish found the ball. Deep in the game, Aashish's header in an acute cross from Pradip sailed wide. Aashish applied a 20-yard low ball strike in the fading moments before goalie Njanga made a long stretch dive to grab it.

APF coach Thapa, commenting on opponents' performance, lauded them as a good team. "All the teams have problems in attacking and the same is the case with Three Star. Due to weaknesses in the striking part, they failed to play to my expectations. They also need to improve a lot."

Three Star's assistant coach Rabindra Silakar accepted that they failed to get the anticipated results. "We started with an offensive mentality to win but the opponents' came with a draw approach," said Silakar. "APF made quick transitions and we could not deal with them. We also failed in counter moves. It is better to share points than lose them in some cases."

Today's Fixtures

Sankata Club vs Nepal Police Club

Time: 13:00 NST

Jawalakhel Youth Club vs Brigade Boys Club

Time: 16:45 NST

Venue: Dasharath Stadium