Nepal women's team coach Hari Khadka accepted they had to struggle to beat Sri Lanka in SA Games 2019.

Nepal toiled hard to beat Islanders 1-0 in its first match at Pokhara stadium on Tuesday. Super sub Saru Limbu scored the match winner in 88th minute.

"She is my trump card. She completely fulfilled her duty", said coach Khadka after the match.

"We had more ball possession. We played technical game but we had tough time beating their compact defense line", added former Nepal international Khadka.

"We also changed our strategy in the first half to increase number of attacking players. But we could score late. This is football", he further added.

Nepal will now take on Maldives in December 5, 2019.