Olawale Oladipo Afeez struck a hat-trick to steer of Manang Marshyangdi (MMC) to the semi-finals of the Jhapa Gold Cup with a 4-1 win over Rupandehi-XI here at the Domalal Rajbanshi grounds Tuesday.

After Sissoko gave MMC the lead, Olawale single-handedly won the game for the top-tier Nepali team. Pukar Gahatraj pulled one back late on for Rupandehi. MMC will now take on Tribhuvan Army Club in the semi-finals of Thursday. Three Star Club and Jhapa-XI are the two other semi-finalists.

Sissoko capitalised on a pass from skipper Anil Gurung to give MMC the 38th minute lead. And they doubled their lead only four minutes later as Olawale took the centre stage by opening his account.

Man-of-the-match Olawale added to his tally five minute after the break before completing a hat-trick in the 63rd minute. Gahatraj restored some pride for Rupandehi with an 89th minute strike to reduce the margin. Rupandehi coach Dayaram Sapkota blamed poor finishing for their defeat. “Our final touch was extremely poor and so we lost by a huge margin,” added Sapkota.

MMC coach Chhiring Lopsang Gurung believed that his team exploited the porous Rupandehi defense to score goals freely. “They are not a weak team as the scoreline may suggest,” said Gurung adding that their own game was well below par.

The hosts Jhapa will take on Three Star Club in the first semi-final match up on Wednesday.