Nepal Police Club (NPC) continued their fine form by entering the semi-finals of the Budha Subba Gold Cup football tournament with a 3-0 victory over Share Football Club of Kalimpong on Tuesday.

NPC arrived here after winning the Birat Gold Cup—a trophy that ended their one-year barren spell. And on Tuesday, Rabin Shrestha, Bharat Shah and Hem Tamang struck to guide the team to the last four. NPC will now take on Rupandehi XI in the semi-final on Thursday.

NPC, who had finished seventh in the National League, took full advantage of the wasteful Share, opening their account on 40 minutes. Shrestha’s 25-yard freekick in was initially blocked by Share goalkeeper but the ball rolled in to cross the goal line.

With one-goal cushion after the first half, NPC kept exerting more pressure and the second goal came when Shah met a cross from Suman Lama inside the box and made a cool finish. The scorer then turned provider in the 83rd minute when he set Tamang inside the danger zone and the midfielder made no mistake scoring from close range.

Tamang was adjudged the man-of-the-match. NPC coach Ananta Thapa was not satisfied with the performance from his boys despite the victory. “We have a young squad and I can see there some areas we need to improve on. Hopefully, we will be able to address the problems before the semi-finals,” said Thapa.

Share coach Chandra Kumar Rai admitted his boys were not at their best. “We formed a team combining players from other clubs too. They have not played together as a team for a long time and its obvious for us to get results like these,” said Rai.

Championship match postponed

The final match of the Kandangwa Gold Cup has been postponed by two days after it coincided with Budha Subba Gold Cup semi-final in Dharan. Nepal Armed Police Force (APF) Club were due to meet Rupandehi-XI in the final on Wednesday. APF are also slated to play Manang Marshyangdi Club in the semi-final of Budha Subba Gold Cup on Wednesday. The final will now be played on Friday, informed the hosts.