March 24, 2007	Saturday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 4, 1428

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KARACHI, March 23: Waqas Sharif’s late winner helped Wapda survive a big scare before chalking up a narrow 4-3 victory over minnows Steel Mills in the national hockey championship which rolled off on Friday.

Although Wapda were not being anticipated to face much resistance from Steel Mills, the opposition proved too hot to handle for them despite having Pakistan stars Rehan Butt, Shabbir Hussain and Waseem Ahmad in their ranks.

The topsy-turvy match at the Hockey Club of Pakistan started with a goal for Steel Mills in the 20th minute through Kashif Ali who scored off a penalty corner.

Steel Mills wasted a sitter when Mohammad Naseer missed the target with a reverse hit in the 26th minute, although he had goal wide open. In a counter-attack, stale-looking Rehan also missed an opening when his angular hit went across the goal.

While Wapda were yet to recover from the early shock, Steel Mills extended their lead when Imran Malik brilliantly connected a cross from Ishtiaq Ahmad in the 30th minute.

Wapda finally came back into the game when Zakirullah reduced the margin four minutes later with a delayed hit following a neat Rehan minus pass.

The winners heaved a sigh of relief just 60 seconds later as Imran Khan cut in deep from right before slotting home the equaliser.

Two goals within space of a few seconds must have proved a tonic as Wapda hammered home their third to go 3-2 ahead through Zubair three minutes into the second half.

Just when it seemed that Wapda had taken control of the situation, Steel Mills, still breathing down the neck banged in the leveller when Mohammad Sarfaraz found the target in the 41st minute on a loose ball.

Eventually it was Waqas who saved Wapda’s blushes with a perfect strike from the top of the semi-circle in the 60th minute.

Meanwhile, Habib Bank (HBL) scored a close 3-2 win over Hyderabad at the UBL Sports Complex.

Starting with a Shahbaz Ali goal in the 22nd minute, HBL grabbed their second when Rashid Imran came into action five minutes later.

The bankers seemed to be in total command when Mohammad Khaliq made it 3-0 with a penalty corner conversion a minute before halftime whistle.

Hyderabad, however, opened scoring through Kashif Saeed in the 61st minute, while Sabiq Hasan converted a penalty corner a minute before the final whistle.

Shakeel Ahmad’s match-winner propelled Sargodha to a 2-1 triumph against Quetta.

The losers opened their account with a Mohammad Amin goal in the 19th minute before Rashid Waheed equalised in the 43rd minute.

Shakeel struck in the 50th minute to help his side gain full points.

Karachi had smooth sailing when they defeated Rawalpindi 4-1.

Rawalpindi got off to a fine start with a Hassan Arifi goal in the 11th minute, but it proved just a consolation as local outfit restored parity four minutes later through a penalty corner conversion by Ziaul Haq.

Zubair slammed home in the 44th minute, Atiq Hussain in the 62nd minute, while Junaid completed the tally in the three minutes later.

Five-goal Imran Warsi guided National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) to a thumping 15-0 victory against underdogs Peshawar.

Apart from Imran (23rd, 30th, 34th, 59th and 64th minute), other scorers were Mohammad Anis (16th, 51st 61st, and 68th minute), Adnan Zakir (5th and 48th minute), Akhtar Ali (24th and 38th minute), Naeem Akbar (44th minute) and Mohammad Nadeem (69th minute).

Pakistan Army crushed Abbottabad 11-0.

Mohammad Imran (40th, 53rd and 61st minute), Rizwan (32nd an 46th minute), Mohammad Saleem (33rd and 50th minute), Kashif (65th and 68th minute), Mohammad Afzal (69th minute) and Azhar (17th minute) were the scorers.

Saturday’s fixtures:

Army v Hyderabad at HCP at 12.00pm; HBL v Abbottabad at HCP at 2.00pm; Steel Mills v Sargodha at HCP at 4.00pm; Pakistan Navy v SSGC at UBL at 2.00pm; Wapda v Quetta at UBL at 4.00pm.