Friendly football match in Sydney
March 17, 2010: The fairytale run of Druk FC boys was ended with a defeat of 4-3 in the hands of NCOWS (Nepalese community of Western Sydney) in a friendly match organized by NCOWS on March 13.
In a highly competitive match of 90 minutes played at Werrington football ground, a home ground of NCOWS team saw the Bhutanese club beaten by a narrow margin.
Druk FC went ahead in the fifth minute of the game with a bullet fired shot from the distance of 30 yard by the right winger Som Nath Dhaurali. 15 minutes after a fine pass from Damber Dhungyel, Parshu Acharya was seen dribbling past four defenders to double the lead.
Th friendly footbal match
NCOWS replied back with a goal on 25th minute from Asish Acharya. In a wait of five minute a shot from Druk FC’s Suresh Khadka deflected past the NCOWS defender and scored his goal to widen the lead.
With Druk FC leading the first half by 3-1, Bhutanese fans of about 30 cheered and gave Druk FC boost of confidence. The second half-injuries to star striker Bishnu Adhikari and the captain Damber Dhungyel disturbed the coordination and combination of the team. Lack of substitutes due to injury saw a Druk FC a victim of fatigue.
As a result, the solid rocked like defense from Subash Kharka and company seemed to be weakened. The NCOWS team took full advantage with the substitution of the best players and scored two more goals within 20 minutes to level the score. The goalkeeper Kalyan Dhungyel seemed helpless after having very good first half. Other players of Druk FC Kushal Dhungyel, Shyam Nepal, Milan Dhungel, Deepak Dhimal and Rohit Dhungel gave their best effort playing better than first half yet failed lift their team for victory.
Shardul Thapa scored a stunning goal from a corner kick in the 75th minute to give NCOWS a lead. After this, Druk FC took an attacking approach sending Suresh Khadka to a striking role to help out a lone striker Parshu. Goal scored on 83rd minute by Parshu was adjudged as an offside as Druk FC missed a valiant chance to equalize score. Handball on 85th minute in the penalty box by opposing team was rejected.
Druk FC boys seemed fairly disappointed but the good support from Nepalese fans helped them to overcome it.
Speaking after the completion of the game, Dr. Om Dhungyel, manager of Druk FC said, the competitive approach from both the team helped the match to be such an exciting and entertaining. Dr. Dhungyel, who also served players with drinks and snacks, said the team’s effort and passion towards the game and the spirit of fighting till the end is what younger generation should learn.
Kabin Joshi the team manager of NCOWS said, “The professional approach towards the game is what I liked in Druk FC. We will be again having a competition this April with four teams on the occasion of Nepalese New Year”.