By a Staff Reporter
Kathmandu – Satdobato Youth Club maintained their unbeaten run in the Qatar Airways Martyrs Memorial A Division League with a hat-trick from Ajayi Martin. Satdobato, which had stunned Three Star Club in their previous match, defeated Nepal APF Football Club by a wide margin of 4-1 at the Dasharath Stadium on Friday.
This is the highest margin victory in the league so far. With this victory, Satdobato has climbed to the top of the standings with seven points. On the other hand, APF suffered a third successive defeat. Martin had scored two goals for Satdobato towards the end of the first half.
In the 42nd minute, APF players attempted to clear a free kick from captain Man Bahadur Tamang that landed in the penalty area. Sudeep Gurung found a rebound and fed it to Martin, who made no mistake in firing the ball past APF’s substitute goalkeeper Dil Kumar Limbu. Martin added another goal in the last minute of first-half injury time. APF goalkeeper Limbu failed to control a shot fired by Martin from a pass received from Pasang Lama. Martin took advantage and sent a header into the net to double Satdobato’s lead.
APF bounced back with a goal as soon as the match resumed after break. Biki Tamang made an attempt to score a goal in the 48th minute after receiving a pass from Ashish Lama. In his attempt to stop the ball, Bishwas Udas scored an own goal to cut the deficit. However, APF’s joy was short lives as Sushil Rai scored another goal for Satdobato two minutes later. He dribbled the ball past three defenders of APF to score the goal.
Martin scored another goal in the 58th minute to complete his hat-trick. Martin scored his third goal off a rebound from APF keeper who was unable to hold a shot fired by Sudeep Gurung. Martin has become the first player to score a hat-trick during the ongoing league.
An injury sustained by the first-choice goalkeeper of APF, Amrit Chaudhary, proved to be costly for the departmental team. Chaudhary was replaced by Limbu after he sustained a leg injury.
Satdobato had remained unbeaten in the previous two matches. The Lalitpur-based club had played a goalless draw against Friends Club in their first match while they had stunned Three Star Club in the second match. On the other hand, APF which had faced a 3-2 defeat against Brigade Boys Club in the first match were beaten 1-0 by Chyasal in their second match.
