The outcome was decided through spot kicks after 120 minutes of  play ended in a 3-3 deadlock. Ravi Paswan, Kumar Gurung and Sandip Silwal gave Nawa Jana Jagriti 3-0 led. But the hosts displayed a tremendous character to force their way back into the game by replying three goals in normal time. Sahara skipper Anil Ojha, teenager Anil Gurung and Subhash Gurung led the fightback for Sahara.

The team from Simara stunned the local crowds scoring early in the fourth minute when Paswan headed home a cross from Saroj Tamang. Sahara had hardly recovered from the early shock when they were jolted again in the 10th minute as Kumar added the second goal following a pass from Raj Paudel.

Silwal then scored acrobatically in the 26th minute to further compound the Sahara misery. But the match was far from over as Anil pulled one back four minutes later.

Sahara returned after the interval with more vigour and within eight minutes of restart cut the deficit to one goal. The provider of the first Sahara goal Anil turned scorer, finishing a short pass from Bhupal Gurung. Subhash then completed a remarkable fightback with an 85th minute equaliser.

The 30 minutes of extra time failed to break the 3-3 deadlock and Nawa Jana Jagriti kept their cool in tie-break to knock the holders out. Nawa Jana Jagriti coach Jivan Lama praised his players for their hard work. “It’s remarkable to beat the local team at their own backyards. On top of that, they (Sahara) are also a very good opponent,” said Lama.

Sahara coach Bishnu KC blamed poor defending for conceding the early goals. “It not for their mistakes we would have won the game easily. We did manage to fight back and force the match into tie-breaker but the damage had been done in the early stages,” said KC.

Far Western FC will take on Nepal Armed Police Force (APF) Club on Wednesday.