By a Staff Reporter
Kathmandu – With the completion of the fourth round of matches of the Qatar Airways Martyrs Memorial A Division League, both the title race as well as attempts to avoid relegation by the bottom clubs have become interesting.
Out of the total 91 matches, 28 have been completed so far. Defending champions Machhindra and Manang Marshyangdi Club sit on top of the points table with 10 points each. On the other hand, the bottom-placed clubs – APF and Jawlakhel Youth Club – both have managed to earn one point each by the end of the fourth round matches.
The clubs are expected to step up their performance in the upcoming matches as the top four clubs with AFC club license will get a chance to feature in the AFC Cup after the completion of the seventh round of matches. Among the licensed clubs, Machhindra, Manang and Army are in the top three positions respectively. Army have eight points.
Another team which has the AFC club license, APF, lie on the rock bottom with just 1 point from four matches. This means that APF has very less chance of competing in the AFC Cup. Therefore, one among Machhindra, Manang and Army will feature in the AFC Cup this time.
Out of the seven matches of the fourth round, the results of five were win-loss while two ended in draws. Manang beat Friends and Army defeated Chyasal with an identical scoreline of 2-0. NRT registered their first win in the ongoing edition of the league by beating Satdobato 1-0. Three Star played a goalless draw against APF as the latter earned their first point. In another match, Sankata defeated Police 1-0. Meanwhile, Jawlakhel also earned a point after a goalless stalemate with BBC.
A total of nine goals were scored in the fourth round, which is the second highest in four rounds. The lowest goals scored was in the second round when only seven goals were recorded. The first round featured 16 goals while there were 18 goals in the third round.
The 50th goal of the league was recorded in the 27th match, which was netted by Sankata’s Niraj Basnet against Police. It was Basnet’s third personal goal in the current edition of league. Basnet is the league’s top scorer along with Sunil Bal of Machhindra and Ajayi Martins of Satdobato, who also have scored three goals so far.
Out of the total 28 matches played so far, 17 were win-loss while 11 ended in draws. Among the games that ended in stalemate, five were goalless draws. Martins of Satdobato is the only player to score a hat-trick in the ongoing league. So far, 39 players have scored goals. Among them, Karan Rawat of Satdobato and Simanta Thapa of Jawlakhel have scored own goals. By the end of the fourth round matches, 19 goals were scored in the first half while 31 were scored in the second half.
Data of Martyrs Memorial A Division League 2078
First Round – 16 goals
1. Friends Vs Satdobato (0-0
2. Sherpa Vs Sankata (1-1)
3. Chyasal Vs Three Star (0-3)
4. BBC Vs APF (3-2)
5. Jawlakhel Vs Manang (0-1)
6. Army Vs Police (1-1)
7. Machhindra Vs NRT (2-1)
Second Round – 7 goals
8. Satdobato vs Three Star (1-0)
9. Sankata Vs Friends (2-1)
10. Chyasal Vs APF (1-0)
11. Sherpa Vs Manang (0-1)
12. Jawlakhel Vs Police (0-1)
13. BBC Vs NRT (0-0)
14. Army Vs Machhindra (0-0)
Third Round – 18 goals
15. Friends Vs Three Star (1-1)
16. Satdobato Vs APF (4-1)
17. Sankata Vs Manang (2-2)
18. Chyasal Vs NRT (1-1)
19. BBC Vs Army (0-1)
20. Sherpa Vs Police (1-1)
21. Jawlakhel Vs Machhindra (0-2)
Fourth Round – 9 goals
22. Manang Vs Friends (2-0)
23. Chyasal Vs Army (0-2)
24. Satdobato Vs NRT (0-1)
25. Sherpa Vs Machhindra (0-3)
26. Three Star Vs APF (0-0)
27. Sankata Vs Police (1-0)
28. Jawlakhel Vs BBC (0-0)
Total matches – 28
Total goals – 50
Victory/Defeat – 17
Draws – 11
Goalless Draws – 5
Goal scorers – 39
Hat-trick – 1 [Ajayi Martins (Satdobato) vs APF]
Own goal – 2 [Karan Rawat (Satdobato0 vs APF, Simanta Thapa (Jawlakhel) vs Machhindra]
First half goals – 19
Second half goals – 31
Yellow cards 80 [Nabin Shrestha (Machhindra official), Yugal Kishor Rai (Himalayan Sherpa – coach)]
Red Cards – 1 [ Ronnel Anthony Paul (Friends) vs Satdobato (double yellow cards)]
Penalty goals – 0
Penalty miss – 1 [Bikash Meraglia (vs Three Star)]
Highest goal scorers
1. Ajayi Martins – 3
2. Sunil Bal – 2+1
3. Dinesh Rai – 2
4. Niraj Basnet – 1+1+1
5. Ramesh Bartaula – 1+1
6. Suman Lama – 1+ 1
7. Olawale Afeez – 1+1
8. Dinesh Rajbanshi 1+1
