Despite losing, Bagmati YC joins departmental clubs in playoffs

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Jan. 22: Bagmati Youth Club lost their final league game of the ANFA Women’s League Final Round against Waling Municipality on Tuesday but assured a spot amongst the three departmental teams in the playoffs between four teams.

Waling registered their first win in the Final Round defeating Bagmati at the Lalitpur-based ANFA Complex Ground by a score of 3-1, thanks to a hat-trick by Sushma Tamang. Sahara Limbu was the sole scorer for Bagmati.

Waling had lost the first encounter against Bagmati on January 10 by a score of 0-2; however, they made a comeback on Tuesday. It was a consolation win for Waling, the team which got a wildcard entry to the Final Round after Koshi Province backed off, which helped end their campaign on a positive note.

For Bagmati, the win over Waling on January 10 was the only three points they earned. Yet, they played a goalless draw against Nepal Police Club on January 18 that helped them earn one more crucial point.

Thus, while Waling earned three points to open their points account in the final game, they fell a point short of Bagmati for a shot in the playoffs.

The league stage of the Final Round between five teams in a double round-robin format concludes on Wednesday with a faceoff between first- and second-placed APF (21 points from seven games) and Army (16 points from seven games). 

Whatever the result between the top two teams, the points table will see APF followed by Army, Police and Bagmati.

Therefore, the playoffs that begin on January 24 will see Police and Bagmati fighting in Eliminator. On January 25, APF and Army will face off in Qualifier 1 with the winner entering the final and the loser facing the winner of Eliminator in Qualifier 2.

The participating clubs had raised concerns over the playoff structure in the league which has already expanded across two phases. “In the playoffs, we will be playing against the same clubs that we have defeated thrice throughout the league’s same edition. What is the advantage for the team that has won in the league stage?” the coaches of the departmental clubs echoed.

Three Star, APF win 

On the other hand, Three Star Club and APF emerged victorious in their respective games of the ANFA U-16 Youth League on Tuesday.

With the wins, APF has 17 points from seven games (5 wins, 2 draws) and is followed by Three Star with 16 points from six games (5 wins, 1 draw). 

Three Star defeated FC Khumaltar by 5-1 while APF bested their departmental counterpart Tribhuvan Army Club (TAC) by a humble score of 13-0.

Sandip Pulami, who opened the goal account for APF in the 10th minute, scored five goals and Abinash Waiba also completed his hat-trick. Prem Bahadur Ghale scored two while Ritesh Sunar, Tenzing Sherpa and Ramesh Adhikari scored one each.

Likewise, Three Star saw five different scorers in its 5-1 win over FC Khumaltar. Raj Bam, Rohit Dawadi, Roshan Tamang, Bhupendra Bahadur Rawat and Sumit Balampaki scored for Three Star while Khumaltar’s consolation goal came from Subash Magar when they earned a penalty in 90+1 minutes.

The U-16 League has two games on Wednesday – Police vs Satdobato and APF vs Himalayan Sherpa.