Tribhuvan Army FC, which is proving to be lucky at the Jhapali ground, has entered the semi-finals of the sixth ongoing Jhapa Gold Cup. Four-time winners Army stopped the title contenders Machindra FC in the first round.

Reversing the 1-0 goal deficit, Army won back the hearts of Jhapali supporters by defeating Machindra.

By registering a 2-1 goal difference victory over this season's most successful club, Machindra, Army has set a trip to the semi-finals.

Machindra took the lead in the 11th minute of the game. Stephen Binong, a foreign player for Machindra, gave the team the lead by scoring a goal. Binong gave the ball the direction of the goalpost utilizing the pass of Hisub Thapaliya.

However, in the 61st minute of the game, Army equalized the game. Striker Navayug Shrestha scored a goal and brought the team to an equal position. Basant Zimba scored the decisive goal in the 81st minute on behalf of the Army.

Zimba got the ball in the penalty area and scored by beating three opposing players. He became the player of the match and managed to get 11,000 in cash.

With the win, Army, the four-time winner of the Jhapa Gold Cup, secured a place in the semi-finals. With the defeat, Machindra has missed out on a hat-trick of titles this season. Machindra won the KP Oli Cup and Bagmati Gold Cup consecutively.

Devendra Tamang, Bimal Ghartimar, Ayush Ghalan, Hishub Thapalia, Vishal Shrestha, Chhiring Gurung and other foreign players were disappointed with the defeat of Machindra.

Army coach Meghraj KC responded that since Jhapa Gold Cup is one of the most important gold cups in the country, the army had no desire to lose this gold cup and was able to succeed by entering the field with a winning strategy. He said that in the last stage, the army used to play by mixing new and old players, and he said that victory was possible when there was synergy between the new and old players.

Santosh Neupane, the coach of Machindra, said that despite the excellent performance of the players, the game was defeated due to a small mistake by the midfielder and defender.

The winner of the gold cup with 10 participating teams will get an attractive trophy with 1.3 million cash, while the runner-up team will have to settle for 7 million cash.

Jhapa 11 FC will play the last quarterfinal match against Anfa Makwanpur on Thursday.