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| February 2, 2003 | Sunday | Ziqa’ad 29, 1423 |
Customs lucky to reach quarterfinal
Customs 3 Police 3
Army 8 Karachi ‘B’ 1
Wapda 5 ABL 3
KARACHI, Feb 1: Customs survived a scare before reaching the quarterfinals after a 3-3 draw with a gallant Police in a highly-fluctuating game in the 50th national hockey championship on Saturday.
Customs managed a last eight place from pool “C”, as they needed a draw, while Police battled for a victory which they failed to secure despite a rousing second half rally.
Pakistan Army, powered by a brilliant hat trick from Mohammad Imran, marched triumphantly into the quarterfinals from pool “D” after an outright 8-1 win over Karachi ‘B’ at UBL Sports Complex.
Wapda emerged as pool “B” champions as they outplayed Allied Bank (ABL) 5-3 in the first match of the day.
Customs forward-line put Policemen to sword from the very beginning as they dominated the first session going on attack from the outset. Led by Olympian Mohammad Shahbaz, Police were shocked when Customs went ahead through Atif Mushtaq who converted a 5th-minute penalty corner.
Shahbaz’s rich international experience paid dividends as he equalised with a short corner conversion two minutes later.
Customs were within inches from taking the lead in the 14th minute but Jawaid Iqbal’s effort ricocheted off the goal post before crossing the back-line. Two more goals from Customs within the space of four minutes were a result of weak Police defence which cost them heavily.
Naeem Ahmad’s opportunist strike after a Mohammad Ali pass made it 2-1 in the 16th minute, while skipper Waseem Feroze struck in the 20th minute after being cleverly set up by Shabbir Khan.
Customs could have moved further ahead two minutes later as Mohammad Ali came near scoring but his powerful hit missed the target.
A pep talk by the bench officials during the lemons instilled confidence into Policemen as they gave Customs a rude shock by going on the offensive just after the re-start, producing two wonderful goals.
Police reduced the margin with a Ejaz Imran goal off an indirect drill barely 60 seconds after resumption. Customs made two substitutions within two minutes as Naeem, who was called back earlier, finally came off the bench in the 56th minute and Waseem Feroze went out the next minute, but it was too late by then.
Police gathered momentum and put the game on an even keel with a Nadeem Akhtar goal off a penalty corner in the 60th minute.
The law enforcers kept on fighting for the elusive winner while Customs were content on defending in which they succeeded.
Adnan Hamid of Customs was named the player of the match.
Army-Karachi ‘B’ encounter ended in a real hiding for the local outfit as the soldiers struck four times in each half after going 1-0 down after Adeel Hussain goal off a penalty corner in the second minute.
Earlier, umpire Zulfiqar Hussain, who slipped and hurt his forearm, with the game a minute old, had to be replaced by reserve umpire Rana Liaquat.
Dilawar Hussain levelled the scores off a short corner in the 14th minute, while Mohammad Yousuf capitalised a Zaheer pass three minutes later.
Two strong pushes from Imran right from the centre of the circle in the 21st and 27th minutes gave Karachi ‘B’ goalkeeper Zulfiqar Ahmad no chance and put Army 4-1 ahead.
Imran completed his treble, the fourth of the tournament, with another penalty corner conversion three minutes into the second half for which he earned the player of the match award for the second time in the tournament.
The soldiers completed the tally with goals from Mohammad Saeed (57th minute), Shakeel Ahmad (58th minute), and Mohammad Yousuf (62nd minute).
ABL’s Babar Abdullah netted in the first minute but Sohail Abbas, named player of the match, showed his class, scoring first of his two goals in the 12th minute and Waseem Ahmad made it 2-1 in the 19th minute for Wapda.
Asif Bajwa equalised for the bankers in the 28th minute. However Sohail’s 33rd-minute short corner conversion again put Wapda ahead. Zahid Afzal again levelled for ABL eight minutes into second period.
Wapda eventually walked away with a 5-3 victory when Rehan Butt (46th minute) and Shahid Rabbani (55th minute) found the target.
Sunday’s fixtures:
Habib Bank v Karachi ‘B’ 11.00am; PIA v Karachi ‘A’ 1.00pm; National Bank of Pakistan v Customs 3.00pm.
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