Ranjan Bista, Ganesh Lawati and Nabin Lama scored for the departmental in the first semi-final match held at Anfa Technical Centre. APF will now take on the winners of Thursday’s semi-final match between Tribhuvan Army Club (TAC) and Manang Marshyangdi Club (MMC) on Saturday.

Bista struck early in the second minute but had to wait until another 54 minutes to add to their tally. Lawati capitalised on a pass from Lama to double the APF lead. Man-of-the-match Lama then turned scorer from provider in the 83rd minute to seal the emphatic victory.

APF squandered two more scoring opportunities in early exchanges with Dharan custodian Amrit Chaudhary punching out Lawati’s shot in the sixth minute. Chaudhary then made a wonderful save to deny Prakash Budhathoki’s goal-bound effort from freekick in the 13th minute.

APF coach Krishna Thapa said that scoring an early goal paved way for his side to add more goals in the latter half. “Taking an early lead spurred our boys,” said Thapa. “Considering that Lawati and Rajendra Rawal are the only seasoned players in the current, the performance today was remarkable.” Dharan FC coach Subash KC rued on the below par performance of his foreign recruits.