Paro FC wins the 2022 BOB Bhutan Premier League

Paro FC wins third Premier League title in nail biting fashion in final match of the season.

Paro FC wins the 2022 BOB Bhutan Premier league

 

 

 The Tigers have had a roaring season that has seen them lift the BPL trophy for the third time and for the second year in a row

 

A Clash of Rivals

On a cold Thursday evening on the 5^th of January, with the temperature edging close to sub-zero, 5000 spectators gathered for the finale of the 2022 BPL season at Changlimithang stadium. Paro FC beat Thimphu City 2-1 and were crowned champions for the third time in the club’s history.

Both Paro FC and Thimphu City have had a remarkable season with both teams leading the table with no losses, however it was a draw between Paro FC and Druk Lhayul FC (2-2) that gave City an opportunity to secure the championship but for that they had to win the decisive match against the Tigers.

Paro FC had won the championship last season with 45 points after a draw (1-1) with Thimphu City who were the runners up with 43 points. The pressure to win was even greater than usual for both teams; Paro FC needed a clear win over Thimphu City to be crowned undisputed champions and Thimphu City had to win this year or suffer losing the championship two years in a row to Paro FC

 

Match Report

 

The match began with Paro FC on the attack with more attempts but being thwarted each time by the the solid defence of Thimphu City. City responded to each attempt by their own counterattacking measures. With both teams having a back-and-forth battle but no luck, the game was headed to a scoreless halftime. It was the continuous attempts by the Tiger’s that eventually paid dividends as they had a breakthrough and Chencho Gyeltshen, Paro FC’s forward scored in the 35^th minute of the game.

After halftime, It was in the 54^th minute that Kazuo Homma solidified the Tiger’s lead with a spectacular long rage shot making the score 2-1 in favour of Paro FC and marking his 34^th goal of the season. With each minute ticking towards a Paro FC victory opportunity came in the form of a penalty that was awarded to Thimphu City, Dawa Tshering ended the goalless run for City by scoring the penalty in the 66^th minute. Energised from their first goal, City tried to capitalize this turn of events to their advantage to even the score but were unable to do so. With an additional 5 minutes of extra time counting down to the final whistle, the match ended 2-1 with Paro FC beating their archrivals

 

Prizes and Awards

 

Paro FC’c formidable Samurai for hire Kazuo Homma wins Most Valuable Player of the Season

Along with the trophy Paro FC was awarded the winning cash prize of Nu 2.4 million while Thimphu City the runners up were awarded Nu 1 million. Paro FC forward Kazuo Homma also secured the award for the most valuable player for this season and a cash prize of Nu 80,000. He has been this year’s top scorer in the league with 34 goals to his name.

 

Future Plans

This is the third title Paro FC won since her inception and joining the Bhutan Premier League in 2018. Paro FC has now won the most number of title in her short history, doing one better than Thimphu City FC who has won 2 titles since founded in 2012. 

This is also the first time that Paro FC won the league undefeated in all 18 games. Japanese import, Kazuo Homma, also won the golden boot with a record 34 goals in 18 games, doubling runner-up Tshenda Dorji of Transport United's sixteen goals in total. 

Winner of coach of the year, Paro FC’s head coach since 2018, Coach Pushpalal, stated that the team had prepared for their eventual clash with Thimphu City a year ago with the team formation already planned by then. On being interviewed on what would be the next move for Paro FC. The General Secretary of Paro FC, Pema Dorji said that first celebrations are in order and then the team would prepare for the upcoming AFC game, scheduled to take place in August.