ISLAMABAD, Aug 5: A spectacular second half strike by Muhammad Ejaz sank Wapda on Friday as PTCL lifted with the inaugural National Football Challenge Cup with a 2-1 victory at the Army Stadium.

Barely having managed to pull level early in the second half after trailing 1-0 at half-time, Wapda were rocked by Ejaz whose rocket strike executed with assembly-line precision left them stunned.

PTCL, composed and purposeful in attack also defended stoutly to shatter Wapda’s hopes of winning the prestigious tournament that featured 12 teams. Their victory was worth Rs 300,000.

Wapda who started as favourites lacked imagination upfront while their defence too looked shaky that allowed their opponents to weave through and make some good attacks. No wonder it were PTCL who drew first blood.

After the initial exchanges, it was Adeel Ahmed who was on target as he struck from well outside the penalty area to give his side the lead with hardly 10 minutes gone.

It could have been the striker’s another goal had he not headed high over the bar minutes earlier.

Wapda, captained by Tanveer Ahmed, appeared to have neutralised the advantage minutes later when Arif Mahmood chipped the ball past the keeper but the referee ruled him off-side.

The pace of play was fast but players on both sides were erratic in passing the ball and at times hung on to it way too long. The quality of game indeed could have been a lot better.

Although Wapda made desperate attempts to get the equaliser, their forwards lacked finish in front of goal with Jamshed Anwar, Muhammad Niaz and Syed Raza all being thwarted by the goalkeeper.

PTCL did well to keep their lead intact at the breather but the Wapda players needed a serious pep-talk with the bench management.

The half-time instructions from the coach did seem to make a difference as Wapda were able to equalise through the hard- working Raza who headed home from close range much to the dismay of the PTCL players. But Wapda, instead of getting more organised after coming on an even keel, made one grave mistake that sealed their fate.

They left Ijaz unmarked at the top of the penalty area and he proved to be their undoing.

Last ditch Wapda efforts saw Naveed Akram coming close but not close enough.

He headed over the bar from a corner, his team’s fourth of the match and then fired right into the hands of the goalkeeper.

And when the referee whistled for full-time the PTCL boys hugged each other and celebrated what was indeed a remarkable victory.

But the expressions on the faces of Wapda players said it all. It was dejection writ all over.

The tournament was held in two groups with one taking place in Faisalabad where Wapda, KRL, Bank AlFalah, Navy, Police and KESC were the participating teams. The Group II in Rawalpindi had Army, PTCL, KPT, National Bank, Sindh Government Press and Higher Education Commission.

Adeel Ahmed of PTCL was adjudged the Best Player and Best Scorer of the tournament while Wapda had to be content with the Fairplay Trophy.