BFF Academy FC defeated FC Takins 7-1 0n March 18 at the ongoing Thimphu B League.

BFF Academy, which has never suffered loss until now, extended the lead with 12 points.

The weekend at Changlingmithang stadium saw FC Takins falling to the fifth place. The team was placed in the third before losing to the former A-league team, FC Tertons, and BFF Academy FC.

The match saw league leaders display improved skills. The team capitalised on their fast and swift passes to displace the opponent.

BFF Academy FC was leading 3-0 at the end of first half. FC Takins scored one goal in the second half. However, BFF Academy FC came out strong after scoring another four goals to end the match with the 7-1 win. The lone goal from FC Takins came as a consolation to the team that suffered two consecutive losses.

BFF Academy FC is playing the league for the first time. The team is led by one of the experienced local coaches, Pasang Tshering, who has five A-league titles as a coach, and Atsushi Nakamura from Japan Football Association.

Atsushi Nakamura joined the team as a head coach on March 15. The federation got the coach from Japan Football Association in place of the former academy coach, Song Jung Lee.

Pasang Tshering said that his teams’ performance was at the top to date. “The players are of same age and they know each other. They were disciplined together and the combinations were good.”

He added that the team did not face tougher teams to date.

“Inexperienced coaches led rest of the teams. The players do not train together like our squad. The clubs were faced with the shortage of coaches,” said Pasang Tshering.

Pasang Tshering has one B-League title. He last won the league in 2015 with FC Rigsum.

Of the 10 teams, BFF Academy FC, Brother’s United FC, and FC Tertons stand at the top three spots. Bhutan Football Federation supports the club with Nu 50,000 as a grant to take part in the league.

The league currently has one team that was relegated from the A league. The league usually has two teams relegated from A-league. However, Drukpol FC, which was supposed to play the league, could not compete because the club was suspended from BFF’s competitions until 2020.

BFF Academy FC was formed after dissolving the academy’s under-19 team that played Thimphu A-league last year. The team has filled the spot in the league that plays 10 teams annually. BFF Academy FC has three players who played A-League before.

Competition officer, Kinley Dorji, said that the teams from federations’ academy were given an opportunity to play the competitions held by the federation by default.

The federation got applications from three new teams to play the league. However, the federation could not register the clubs, owing to budgetary constraints.

Two teams from the league get promoted to play Thimphu A-League.

FC Tertons defeated Brother’s United yesterday. the match saw former Thimphu A- league tam moving second place in the table.

FC Terttons played the highest of five matchs o date.

BFF Academy FC leads the league with three points ahead of second placed FC Tertons. It also has a match iadvantage.

The league began on March 3 and it ends on April 15.

Nima