The Bhutanese Leading the way.
A 1-0 win over Nepal’s Three Star saw Yeedzin through to the finals of the ongoing King’s Cup at the Changlimithang Stadium last night.
The first half was a drab and goalless affair with poor control and miscommunication running rampant all over the field. Possession on either side was sporadic at best and the rare openings failed to see a finish. The only consolation for the chiefly pro-Yeedzin crowd, armed with drums, cymbals and the works, was a stalemate as the whistle blew for half time.
The second half saw the teams get down to business with flurry of attacks, fouls and two bookings to boot. In the 55th minute, a delightful through ball from midfield released Dodoz down the center, just yards from the area. Crossing toward the right side, inches from goal, the Ivorian sent in a composed flip through the lunging goalkeeper’s legs but the Nepalese side was denied the lead by the post.
Ten minutes later, a long diagonal clearance from left back resulted in a corner for Yeedzin. In a move pre-orchestrated countless times in training, the Thinley Dorji corner was flipped across the face of goal before Stanley latched onto it with a powerful header to take the home side one up.
After finding the net, Yeedzin took their foot off the pedal leaving Three Star to the chink seeking in their defense. Shaking off his marker, Dodoz came close again after the 80th minute with a left footer curling inches wide of the left post. The talented Three Star forwards upped the tempo with some fine passing and run down the flanks but were denied enough momentum for an equalizer by a stout Yeedzin defense.
Three Star saw their last chance squandered when a corner in the dying minutes was cleared from the box and the full time whistle was drowned by the jubilant eruption of the record crowd.
Yeedzin FC will now face the undefeated LHM Manang in the final of the King’s Cup at 4PM on Sunday afternoon in the Changlimithang Stadium. Manang routed Sikkim United 6-2 in the first semifinal on Thursday.
