Nepal romped to a 7-1 win against Bhutan while Sri Lanka weathered the dominant Japanese but had to concede a 3-1 loss in the opening two matches of the South Asia – Japan U16 Football Exchange Four Nations tournament at the Race Course International Stadium.
Nepal v Bhutan
Nepal were up and running as early as in the 9th minute when skipper Ranjan Pun slotted home with a calm finish.
They would double the score straight from the re-start as a ball over the defence was fumbled by the goalkeeper Tenzil Dorji onto the path of Birjesh Chaudhary, who made no mistake with the finish.
Karlos Bakhariya made it 3-0 four minutes later and Birjesh scored his 2nd in the 19th minute.
There was one more goal to come before half time and that came from the boot of Roshan Rana Magar in the 26th minute. Bhutan then made a decent defensive effort to keep the score at 5-0 till half time.
Half time – Nepal 5 – 0 Bhutan
After half time it was Bhutan who scored first through a penalty in the 57th minute. Jkelzang Jigmi was the scorer.
However there was no comeback as Nepal added two more both coming from Ranjan Pun in the 60th and 69th minutes as he completed his hat-trick
Full time – Nepal 7 – 1 Bhutan
Sri Lanka v Japan
Japan scored two goals inside the first 20 minutes while Sri Lanka missed a chance in the 40th minute. Japan punished the hosts soon after to make it 3-0 before Sri Lanka went into half time on a positive note when Mohamed Murshid scored to make it 3-1 on the stroke of half time.
Neither side was able to score in the 2nd half in which Sri Lankan players went down with cramps.
