A late goal from defender Ananta Tamang guided Three Star Club to a hard fought 1-0 victory over Mai Valley Club of Ilam as they entered the semi-finals of the fourth Mechinagar Gold Cup football tournament in Kakarvitta on Tuesday.

Nepali international centre-back Tamang scored the all-important goal four minutes from time to send Three Star into semi-finals. The Lalitpur-based team will meet Tribhuvan Army Club in the semi-finals on Thursday after Nepal Police Club take on Sankata Club in the other semi-final match on Wednesday.  

Mai Valley dominated the early exchange and kept Three Star under intense pressure until the interval. In the 17th minute Rajiv Lopchan ended up firing inches above bar for Mai Valley. Three Star’s foreign recruit Ellon Maxwell ended up firing off target in Sunil Bal’s cross. Lopchan wasted scoring chances in the 30th and 34th as he failed to find target in the first attempt and later could not connect a Sushil Yadav cross.

Three Star bounced back in the second half and created scoring chance in the 46th minute only to see Maxwell go off target. In the 53rd minute, Manasa Webhagui smashed above the bar before Sushil Rai’s header in Rupesh KC cross sailed above bar in the 74th minute. Three Star’s Tamang finally broke the deadlock in the 86th minute as he capitalised on a Rai cross to stun goalie Sojit Gurung. The ball entered the net after taking a slight deflection off the woodwork. Rai was declared man-of-the-match and won Rs 11,000.

Mai Valley coach Pasang Sherpa said his team lost the match due to lack of proper understanding between Nepali and foreign players. “We wasted a lot of scoring opportunities and the luck also did not favour us,” he said. Three Star coach Meghraj KC said his side played well below its potential. “The team failed to play as per the expectations,” he said.