APF Football Club won the opening match of the sixth edition of the Jhapa Gold Cup by being lucky in the tiebreaker.
After defeating Sankata Football Club Kathmandu by 4-2 goal difference, APF has set a trip to the quarter finals.
Dipesh Dhimal, Fode Fofona, Kuldeep Karki and Suman Shrestha scored for APF. Sankata's Chandan Das and Yaman Bahadur Putwar's strikes only made the net open. Sankata's Ajit Lama's shot was saved by the opposing goalkeeper, while Mausam Subba's shot hit the goal post and returned.
In the fourth minute of the game, APF lost the opportunity to take the lead. Buddiman Rai, who was unmarked in the penalty area, failed to score on Fode Fofona's cross. His shot went off the crossbar.
In the 55th minute, APF's Anis Rana's hard shot from the penalty area was saved by Sankata's goalkeeper Nishan Rana. In the 76th minute, APF's Pradip Lama's shot went wide of the bar.
In the extra time, Dipesh Dhimal's hard shot from the middle of the field was saved by the goalkeeper of Sankata. APF created many opportunities to score goals throughout the game and the decision of the game went to a tiebreaker as APF could not score in the allotted time.
APF's goalkeeper Angel Shrestha was declared the player of the match. He got an award of NRs. 11,000. The winner of the competition will get a cash prize of 13 lakhs, the runner-up will get 7 lakhs, a trophy, a medal and a certificate. Sunday's match will be between Nepal Police Club and league winners Church Boys United Kathmandu.
The final match of the tournament, which started on Saturday, will be held on Falgun 28. 10 teams including Nepal's A division are participating in the competition.