Three Star Club made it to the semi-finals of the Aaha-Rara Gold Cup football tournament after seeing off Nepal Armed Police Force (APF) Club 5-3 in penalty shootout on Monday.

The match was decided through spots kicks after a goalless deadlock in the 90 minutes of regulation time as well as the 20 minutes of extra time. Ranjit Dhimal, Nirajan Khadka, Sunil Bal, Bikram Lama and Bijay Dhimal all converted from the spot,

while only Anjan Bista, Nabin Lama and Ranjan Bista scored for APF.

Three Star, who lifted the Itahari Gold Cup title on Saturday with a 1-0 win over Manang Marshyangdi Club (MMC) in the final, were unable to field three of their foreign recruits Peter Segun, Ajaji Martin and Lawol Olelekan for not being able to produce “work permit” paperworks. All three players, however, were allowed to play during their triumphant Itahari Gold Cup campaign.

In the early exchanges, Yuvraj Khadka called Three Star custodian Alan Neupane into action and at the other end Nirajan was also denied by AFP goalkeeper Amrit Kumar Chaudhary. APF also came close to scoring in the 20th minute when Ranjan

fire inches wide of the target and 10 minutes later his teammate Top Bahadur Bista was denied by Three Star goalie Neupane. Luck deserted Three Star twice as both Nirajan and Jivan Gurung found the woodwork. The four-time Aaha-Rara champions Three Star will now play Uttar Baridhara SC of Bangladesh in the semi-finals on Wednesday.

APF coach Ratnakaji Maharjan blamed the defeat to the lack of coordination in the first half. “We improved on that in the latter half but again rushing for goals resulted in missing out on the opportunities that came our way,” added Maharjan, who team had made it to the quarter-finals after defeating Sankata Club in the previous round. APF’s best run in the tournament the final appearance in the sixth edition when they lost to Nepal Police Club.

Three Star coach Megh Raj KC said he hopes the trio of his foreign recruits will be able to play in the semi-finals. “Organisers had asked for their paperworks but the delay by the Ministry of Labour resulted into them not getting the work permit. Hopefully, we will get it in time for them to feature in the semi-finals,” said KC adding that the performance will also improve given that they will have enough time to rest.

NPC will take on MMC in the last quarter-final match on Tuesday.