Winger Ravi Shankar Paswan struck twice for Nepal Police Club as they edged fellow relegation strugglers Chyasal Youth Club 2-1 in a rescheduled match of the Martyrs Memorial 'A' Division League at the Dasharath Stadium in Tripureshwar on Wednesday.

The winger scored at both ends for the once upon a time's giants of Nepali football who pulled their second win of the league campaign in the ninth match. Cameroonian Moussa Abagana restored parity briefly in the second half for the relegation-threatened Chyasal.

The win lifted Police two spots up to ninth and are level on 10 points with AFC FC. The defeat has piled more misery on Chyasal, languishing in the relegation zone, who are second from bottom with five points. They have won just one and drawn two matches in the league. Bottom two teams at the end of the 14-team contest will be relegated to the second division.

Both the Police and Chyasal came with a must-win pressure in the match rescheduled about three weeks later than the original fixture owing to Covid-19 outbreak among the players of Lalitpur-based team.

Police came with an attacking intent and looked like a better side. Though they dominated the first half they failed to create threatening chances despite piling pressure on opponents. In the very second minute Police defender Ajit Bhandari's header in Suman Lama's corner was easily grabbed by goalie Arpan Karki.

Paswan broke the deadlock in the 37th minute after he collected Nir Kumar Rai's pass and fired at the far post from outside the area to stun an advancing goalie Karki. Police goalie Satrughan Chuadhay punched Kamal Shrestha's freekick to safety in the early second half.

Cameroonian Abagana levelled the scores in the 53rd through penalty. The midfielder converted from the spot after Rumesh Bartaula was fouled in the area by Police captain Suman Subedi. Police, however, restored their one-goal cushion through Paswan who collected a through pass from Suman Lama inside the area and dribbled past Biraj Maharjan before beating goalie Karki with his close range strike.

Chyasala's late attempts for an equaliser were unsuccessful as they hit the woodwork twice. Abhishek Limbu's late header in defender Shrestha's strike landed at the bar. Moments later Italian forward Bikash Meraglia and substitute Karna Subba both wasted scoring opportunities. In the stoppage time, defender Ketcha Yannick's strike hit the upright after deflecting on Police defender Hemanta Shrestha.

Chyasal coach Leigh Manson said that his side failed to place the ball at the net despite creating numerous chances. "We could not score despite creating chances and we are through a similar story in the whole season," said the Scottish coach, adding that they would try to give their best in the remaining four matches with the ambition of avoiding relegation.

Police coach Ananta Raj Thapa said that they were successful in their plan of earning three points. "We require three points from the match at any cost and we got that comfortably. We controlled the first half and we should have been awarded a penalty before the interval," claimed Thapa, adding that they were now almost safe from relegation.

The league, which headed into winter break on January 17, will resume on Friday. Machhindra Club so far unbeaten lead the standings with 23 points.