The opening ceremony of the 2nd JNEC Open Football Tournament took place on 16th April, coinciding with the Zhabdrung Kuchoe. The opening of the tournament was scheduled on the auspicious day to mark the 400th anniversary of Zhabdrung’s arrival in Bhutan.
JNEC XI, the Jigme Namgyel Engineering College team marked their first win by defeating Dewathang United 3-2, in the opening match. Though the low fog hindered the visibility, the match officials after consultation with the team captains decided to play on. The fog was so dense that the spectators has to wait for whistle to go to know whether a goal has been scored.
Karma Wangchuk scored the opening goal for JNEC XI in 15th minute followed by Phub Gyeltshen in the 20th minutes. Sonam Tshering put back the Dewathang United into the competition by scoring a brace with few minutes to half-time whistle.
In the second half, JNEC continued to press forward the ball and the breakthrough came in 66th minute by Depak Gurung, putting forward the team with 3-1 lead. Rinzin Cheda of Dewathang came into rescue in last dying minutes but it was too little too late and the team slumped to 2-3 defeat in their opening match.
Opening of 2nd JNEC Open Football Tournament
