Sports
Army see off NPC 2-0 to lift Simara Gold Cup
Tribhuvan Army Club (TAC) clinched the sixth Simara Cup football tournament title with a 2-0 win over their departmental archrivals Nepal Police Club here on Saturday.
Laxmi Sah
Tanka Basnet and Nawayug Shrestha scored for the Armymen in the final. Basnet put the Army club ahead, scoring from a long-range effort in the 15th minute that left NPC custodian just an onlooker. TAC doubled their lead when Nawayug made the most of the NPC defensive lapse to score in the 77th minute. Nawayug, who has been in fine from in this tournament, shot the ball into the net from inside the area after Suman Subedi and Dipendra Shrestha had failed to clear the ball.
NPC earlier squandered an opportunity for a comeback when they were awarded a penalty in the 39th minute after a TAC defender handled the ball inside the area. Ajit Bhandari stepped in to take the spot kick but unfortunately for the Police team goalie Bikesh Kuthu made a brilliant save. The Armymen played the last half an hour with a man down when Padam Tamang was sent off in the 60th minute for a second bookable offense. However, NPC failed to take advantage of the numerical advantage as TAC held firm to protect the scoreline.
As well as the spot kick, the NPC squandered several other scoring chances, notable when Hem Tamang found the upright early in the seventh minute before the same played wasted another opportunity in the 55th minute. Nawayug, who scored a total of six goals, was adjudged the best player of the tournament and was rewarded with a motorcycle.
The Army team also dominated other the individual awards, winning the best keeper (Kuthu), forward (Bharat Khawas), midfielder (Tanka Basnet) and coach (Megh Raj KC) categories. Suraj BK of NPC was named the best defender. The champions walked away with Rs 4,00,000 while NPC received Rs 2,00,000. The individual award winners also took home Rs 15,000 each. In all, 10 teams took part in the knockout tournament organised by Nawa Janajagriti Club.