Jawalakhel Youth Club registered second victory in a row defeating newboys Satdobato Youth Club 2-0 to leapfrog five spots up in the standings of the Martyrs Memorial 'A' Division League at the Dasharath Stadium in Tripureshwar on Monday.

Two second half goals from substitute Bipin Kandel and Indian midfielder Nicholas Fernandes became sufficient for Jawalakhel to seal their second victory in a row and collect all their points — seven — from the last three games.

Unlike Jawalakhel, who made a sluggish start to their season losing the first three matches, high flyers Satdobato got a reality check. The newcomers were off to a solid start earning seven points from first three games but have collected just one point from their last three fixtures.

While Jawalakhel came level on Three Star Club and New Road Team (NRT) in seventh place with as many points at the completion of sixth round, Satdobato are joint fifth with eight points. Machhindra, Manang Marshyangdi and Sankata occupy top three positions respectively with the leaders collecting 14 points and second and third placed teams separated by one point each.

In the clash of Lalitpur-based sides, Satdobato controlled the early proceedings and dominated the ball possession but they struggled to create clear chances. Instead they were Jawalakhel to create the first real chance in the first half stoppage time when goalie Abishek Baral denied Cameroonian forward Onguna Junior's header.

Bipin Kandel, who replaced Nepali international Suraj Jeu Thakuri at the start of the second half, gave lead to Jawalakhel five minutes after his entry into the game. The midfielder under tight marking by Pasang Lama controlled Junior's cross to beat the defender before firing beyond the reach of goalie Baral. It was the third appearance of Kandel in the league who had played just 25 minutes in the previous two matches.

"Bipin is one of the best players and the team have expected much better performance from him in the upcoming matches," said Jawalakhel coach Kishor KC. "Suraj was struggling to perform well, so we replaced him with Bipin and the strategy paid off."

Midfielder Fernandes doubled the advantage in the 70th with a 25-yard strike to stun the diving goalie, Baral. A minute before that the shot stopper had parried Rup Bahadur Lama's scorcher from the inner edge of the area. Cameroonian forward Junior also struck woodwork twice for Jawalakhel.

Jawalakhel coach Kishor KC lauded his side for a comfortable victory with good performance. "We have struck post on many occasions from the very first matches," he rued adding, they still have top four finish.

His counterpart Meghraj KC of Satdobato complained of complacency from his squad. "The team have failed to play to their potential. Maybe the players were overconfident assuming that Jawalakhel were far behind them in the standings and we lost," said KC, adding that they would amend errors in the upcoming fixtures.

The seventh round of the league will begin on Friday. The next round match will also determine which team will represent Nepal in the preliminary rounds of the AFC Cup, the second tier inter-country club football tournament of Asia. The team securing top position at the completion of the seventh round will qualify for the Cup.