Durand Cup: Indian Army FT secures narrow 1-0 win against resilient Tribhuvan Army FC

Jamshedpur (Jharkhand) [India], August 5 : P. Christopher Kamei's solitary first-half strike ensured Indian Army FT edged past a resilient ten-man Tribhuvan Army FC in a Group C fixture of the 134th Durand Cup, which was played here at the JRD Tata Sports Complex.

Tribhuvan Army FC finished their Durand Cup campaign with one point from three matches, while Indian Army has three points from two games. Gagandeep Singh started in goal for Indian Army FT in place of the suspended Sayad bin Abdul Kadir. As head coach Manish Wahi gave starts to Abhishekh Shankar Powar and Wangden Tamang in place of Shubham Rana and Samir Murmu, a release said.

Tribhuvan Army FC Head Coach Meghraj K.C. also made three changes for their final group game, bringing in Niraj Chaudhary, Anil Bomjan and Shrijan Dani in place of Aviskar Khadka, George Prince Karki and Niranjan Dhami.

Tribhuavan Army started the match on the front foot, controlling the possession and pace of the game, and created the first real chance of the match with Gagandeep Singh palming away Gillespye Jung Karki's header to safety.

The Indian Army side settled into their rhythm, showing more control in possession and creating chances of their own, to take the lead in the 21st minute. Wangden Tamang found P. Christopher Kamei on the edge of the box with a cross from the left wing, who controlled the ball with his left foot, and with a precise low shot, the experienced midfielder found the bottom corner past the diving goalkeeper.

Troubles mounted for the side from Nepal as they were reduced to 10 men in the 29th minute as goalkeeper Bikash Kuthu was shown a straight red card for a reckless foul on Liton Shil outside the penalty box while trying to stop the striker who ran free from the defence and had also rounded the keeper. The resultant free kick taken by the goal scorer, Christopher Kamei, hit the crossbar.

The Nepali Army side showed character even with a man down as they continued to press forward in search of the equaliser. The forwards were able to find some good positions in the danger area, but they were denied by a combination of some solid defending and a couple of saves by the Indian Army side as the scores remained the same into the break.

Indian Army continued to dominate possession from the restart but were unable to make use of their man advantage as Tribhuvan Army showed some resilience in defence, making it hard for the Indian Army attackers to score their second. They were also wasteful in front of the goal, with Liton Shil missing as many as three chances to score. On the other end, the Nepal side, who were playing on the counterattack, missed a golden opportunity to level the scores. Disanta Rai failed to divert a cross from the left wing into an open goal as the substitute miscued his shot.

Moments earlier, Captain Gillespye Karki was unlucky to hit the crossbar with a powerful header from a corner kick with the goalkeeper rooted to his spot. Tribhuvan Army looked dangerous every time on the counterattacks, but were not clinical in the final third. In the end, Christopher Kamei's first-half strike was enough to secure their first win of the tournament and secure three points.

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