Both the matches of the Martyrs Memorial 'A' Division League finished in goalless draws as New Road Team (NRT) and the Himalayan Sherpa Club shared the spoils while APF Football Club and Sankata Club walked away with a point each at the Dasharath Stadium in Tripureshwar on Sunday.

With the draw, both NRT and Sherpa remained unchanged in the standings. NRT are seventh with 14 points and Sherpa one spot behind them with 12 points. Sankata, however, climbed one spot to fifth with 15 points replacing Satdobato Youth Club on goals superiority. APF remained stable in ninth place with 11 points.

In the drab early kickoff of the day, both NRT and Sherpa failed to create remarkable chances though Stephane Binong wasted a golden scoring opportunity for NRT in the mid first half. The Cameroonian forward failed to collect Sanam Limbu's cross inside the area providing goalie Deep Karki an easy opportunity to grab the ball.

Himalayan Sherpa coach Yugal Kishor Rai was happy for earning a point against the tough opponents. "NRT could not play to our expectations and we are thankful that we snatched a point. My team executed the game plan," said Rai.

NRT veteran coach Raju Kaji Shakya was frustrated with his sides' performance. "The boys failed to live up to our expectations. The injuries in three key players also hampered our performance," said Shakya.

In the late fixture of the day, both APF and Sankata Club failed to capitalise on scoring opportunities and settled for the draw. In the early moments APF's Japanese custodian Yuya Kuriyama made a diving save to prevent Guinean striker Fode Fofana's strike on goal.

The departmental side replied in the late first half but Chad forward Armand Beadoum headed above the bar in skipper Nabin Lama's corner. Sankata's Niraj Basnet could have opened the scoring at the stroke of an hour but the sprinting defender failed to connect Roman Limbu's freekick at an unguarded net.

APF came closer to scoring when Lamichhane robbed the ball from defender Basnet and sprinted to the opponent's half. But the forward failed to beat Sankata goalie Raja Babu Thapa, the last obstacle on his way, when he applied a strike from the 18-yard box.

Sankata coach Bishnu Gurung rued on missed chances. "Though I am happy with the overall performance of the team, the boys failed to capitalise on scoring opportunities. We have come with three points' ambition," said Gurung, adding that APF were a strong team since the beginning of the league campaign though they struggled for points until they recruited foreigner players in the squad. "The presence of foreigner players has made them mentally strong but there is not much difference in the team's performance after the addition of foreigner players," Gurung said of APF, who recruited two foreigners mid-season to strengthen their squad.

APF coach Kumar Thapa said that the draw has put the team under relegation pressure. "There are not many points off the relegation zone and the outcome has put us under pressure. We lost two points after we failed to perform well in the attacking department," said Thapa, adding that they were still under relegation threat. "We are yet to play three matches and any outcome is possible."

The 11th round of the action will begin on Friday.