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| October 24, 2002 | Thursday | Sha’aban 17,1423 |
Four-goal Shahid propels PTCL into second round
KARACHI, Oct 23: PTCL and Afghan Agency Chaman (AAC) stormed into the knock-out stage after contrasting league victories in the President PFF Cup football championship Wednesday.
A four-goal blitz by Shahid Ahmad propelled PTCL into the second round after a thumping 6-1 triumph over Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) in a Group ‘F’ match.
But it was the Group ‘E’ encounter between Karachi Port Trust (KPT) and AAC, which provided quality football as portmen broke sweat to overcome their spirited rivals 3-2.
Both the tough-tackling sides were reduced to ten players in the second session after vicious tackles on each other at People’s Sports Complex.
After the day’s matches, both, PTCL and KPT, emerged as the champions of their respective groups, while AAC also made it to last 16 stage. Pakistan Navy from Group ‘F’ have already moved ahead.
KPT were on the attack from the outset as they launched several threatening moves with their forwards Ghulam Farooq, Lal Bukhsh and Fareed Majeed firing on all cylinders.
Their efforts bore fruit when Ghulam squared a perfect pass into Fareed’s path whose drive helped the local side take 1-0 lead in the 17th minute.
AAC’s Haji Ahmad Shah’s 44th-minute charge for goal ended by a mistimed tackle from the over-enthusiastic Abdul Samad resulting in a penalty. Ahmad, who was hacked down in the box by Samad, successfully converted the spot kick.
Charged after the equaliser, AAC faced a KPT raid and then retaliated via the speedy Zafar Ahmad who hared down the other end to score a spectacular goal from 16 yards after gliding past two defenders on 55 minutes.
Two minutes later, KPT came close twice to scoring but squandered with Mohammad Ameen and Nawaz Rahman shooting above the bar.
KPT finally heaved a sigh of relief when Abdul Aziz found the target after he breezed past the AAC defences to drive home from 14 yards and restore parity.
AAC’s Adam Khan was first shown a yellow card for charging Lal Bukhsh down and then received marching orders for dissent in the 62nd minute after referee Abrar Hussain flashed a red.
KPT were left ruing when Ameen’s penalty kick went straight into AAC goalkeeper Abdul Salam’s hands.
Although AAC had only ten in the field, Zafar and Ahmad were controlling the game. But KPT mounted pressure through incisive counter-attacks.
Lal Bukhsh provided an excellent opportunity after dribbling near the area only to see Nawaz lobbing the ball above the target in the 79th minute.
Samad, after some rough play, also left in the 80th minute, collecting his second yellow in the match.
Fareed eventually relieved the KPT’s pressure by tapping in a Fareed pass from goalmouth in the 83rd minute.
Star-studded PTCL got off to a stunning start, opening the score with Shahid Ahmad goal in the 3rd minute following a pass from international Mohammad Essa.
Adeel Ahmad, a Pakistan midfielder, rammed home two back-to- back goals in the 40th and 44th minutes after being set up by Essa and Shahid respectively.
Shahid pounced in the 48th minute to got his second. Essa again supplied an accurate pass for Shahid who completed his hat trick in style in the 58th minute.
SSGC got some consolation before crashing out of the tournament, Taj Mohammad curling in a corner in the 79th minute. Shahid fired in his fourth and team’s sixth in the dying minutes of the game to end SSGC’s chances.
Thursday’s fixtures:
Khan Research Laboratories v City District Government Quetta at 1.45am; ABL v KESC at 3.45pm
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