Khumaltar were relegated from the Martyrs Memorial ‘A’ Division League after one season in the country’s top flight after they lost 2-0 against champions Church Boys United in a bad-tempered match that saw five red cards at the ANFA Complex on Friday.

Friends Club secured their stay in the premier division after a 4-0 rout of Armed Police Force Club guaranteed them at least a 12th place finish in the 14-team standings. The bottom two sides are relegated to the second division at the end of the season.

Khumaltar were in a must-win game against CBU to have any mathematical chance of survival but they fell behind after 13 minutes when Sushil Shah scored off a free kick from Arik Bista.

The game might have turned on its head had Messouke Oloumou scored the penalty kick—awarded for a foul on the Cameroonian by Manoj Rai—in the 25th minute but the league second highest scorer—19 goals—wasted the chance.

Khumaltar’s tensions were already out in the open in the build-up to the match against their old rivals. They had requested the All Nepal Football Association to reschedule the fixtures of the relegation-threatened teams on the same day. But the football governing body didn’t heed their call. Three Star, the other club fighting for survival, are in action against Jawalakhel on Saturday.

And Khumaltar’s jimjams overflowed on the field in the first-half injury time when their bench got involved in an ugly confrontation and heated exchanges with the match officials protesting referee Prajwol Chhetri’s decision.

The match officials halted the match for about half-an-hour citing security reasons.

Khumaltar’s substitute player Manish Thapa and officials Buddhi Bahadur Gurung, Hari Bol Raut and Anjan Rana Chhetri ended up with red cards.

CBU’s Jospeh Bempah then added salt to their wounds immediately after the match resumed, beating Khumaltar goalkeeper Aashish Muktan in a one-versus-one situation.

CBU’s goalkeeper Priso was sent off three minutes after the restart for his indiscipline.

The defeat doomed Khumaltar to the bottom of the table with 27 points from 26 matches.

At the Dasharath Stadium, APF needed only a draw to guarantee their safety but Friends were in a do-or-die situation.

It was a match of survival of the fittest and Friends comfortably won the battle of life-time with Torric Jebrin, Bikash Thapa, Rafiq Aminu and Akhrorbek Uktamov all finding the targets.

Friends opened the scoring in the 15th minute when Jebrin’s free kick—aided by a deflection—pierced through the wall before finding the net.

Friends were 2-0 ahead in the 31st minute. Thapa slipped behind the APF defenders to meet a lofted pass from Rupesh KC, controlled the ball with his chest and buried past APF goalkeeper Raju Yogi.

Aminu furthered their lead in the 72nd minute after Jebrin’s solo effort from the halfway line set the tone for the third goal.

Uktamov killed off the game in the 82nd minute taking advantage of another sleek defending from APF.

The defeat put APF on the brink of relegation as they sit in the 12th position with 30 points, having played all 26 games. Three Star are in the 13th position with 29 points but have a game in hand. A win over neighbours Jawalakhel in their last game could save their season pushing APF to the second division.