Nepal made a comeback to defeat Bhutan, the hosts, in the SAFF U17 Women’s Championship at the Thimphu-based Changlimithang Stadium on Friday.

Trailing 0-1 at the first half, Nepal bounced back in the second half to win the game by 2-1.

Nepal conceded first in the 42nd minute from a corner kick. The kick by Pema Dekar was sent past Nepali goalkeeper Laxmi Oli with a powerful header by Kuenden Sonam Tshogyel. Tshogyel made a jump and got her head to the cross by Dekar from outside the six-yard box to give the lead to the home side in front of loud home fans.

However, 13 minutes into the second half, Nepal equalised.

The equaliser was not on the list as the shot, from outside the 18-yard box, by Sahara Limbu was not powerful. Even Limbu was not satisfied when the ball was released from her foot. Yet, Bhutan’s goalie Kelzang Wangmo could not save the low ball while diving to her left and led the visitors to erupt in joy.

Kelzang would have been dissatisfied with herself after letting the equalising goal get past her easily. But it only worsened when she let the comeback goal get behind the line more easily in the 76th minute.

Moreover, it was again shot by Limbu. She hit the first goal from the left side while the second was from the right side outside the 18-yard box, and this time it was a high ball. Kelzang let the ball go without any effort to save, thinking it was going outside the frame, but it did not.

The game still had enough minutes and chances for both sides to score more. But there were no more goals as the referee blew the final whistle after the end of five minutes of additional time.

Nepal registered their first win in the tournament, having lost the opening fixture against India by 0-7 on Wednesday. They will now face Bangladesh, who defeated Bhutan 3-1 on Wednesday and lost 0-2 to India on Friday, on Sunday, before the second round of the double round-robin league begins on August 27.