All Nepal final in Governor's Gold Cup

Gangtok, Nov 6 (UNI) It will be an all Nepal final tomorrow with both NRT and Three Star beating their respective opponents in the semis of the 29th All India Governor's Gold Cup football tournament at the Paljor stadium here today.

In the first semifinal, NRT Nepal defeated the high flying Nigerian Eagles 2-1 in an ill-tempered match marred by refereeing controversies.

Anil Gurung gave the lead to the NRT team in the 47th minute by slamming home after the Nigerian goalie failed to properly grasp a cross. This was his third goal in the tournament.

Ten minutes later, Egwane Charles equalized for the Nigerian side during a goal mouth melee. At that time, the Nepal players were outnumbered in the box with two of their players out in the sidelines with injuries.

The winning goal for NRT was struck by Khum Gurung in the 65th minute which generated a huge protest from the Nigerians who claimed that Gurung was in an offside position. The Nigerian players walked out of the pitch and game resumed after heated discussion.

The game disintegrated into some foul play in the dying minutes that saw two Nigerian players being shown yellow cards by the referee.

In the second semifinal of the day, Three Star Nepal had an easy game over three time champions Punjab Police with a 2-0 victory.

Jumanu Rai scored both the goals in the 27th and 53rd minute making it four in the tournament for him. The first goal came out a sweeping cross from the left flank and Rai chested the ball, brushed past a defender and hammered a rasping shot that crashed into the corner of the net.

In the 53rd minute, Rai ran past several defenders to control a long ball which he stepped over sending the Punjab goalie sprawling in the wrong direction. He then just tapped the ball into an empty goal ending the policemen run in the tournament.

Both the Nepal clubs are bitter rivals in the Nepal league and an exciting final is on cards, said the teams' coaches.

UNI