June 17, 2007	Sunday	Jumadi-us-Sani 01, 1428

KARACHI, June 16: Steel Mills bounced back in the second half to score a come-from-behind 3-1 victory over Habib Bank (HBL) to reach the President’s Gold Cup hockey final at the Hockey Club of Pakistan on Saturday.

In the other semi-final, which was played in energy-sapping hot weather, Wapda had a smooth sailing as they brought the high-flying defending champions PIA down to earth with a crushing 4-0 defeat.

Although HBL took a confident start they could not maintain their hold in the second half, especially near the end which saw Steel Mills score two goals that sealed the fate of the match.

The bankers started with a first-minute penalty corner by Azlan Khan whose fine effort was well taken by Steel Mills goalkeeper Farhan Asif. Azlan was once again near scoring in the sixth minute but could not break the ice.

Azlan eventually opened bankers’ account when he slotted home in the 11th minute.

The goal forced Steel Mills to go on all out attack which resulted in no less than 10 short corners during the game. The winners might have equalised on their seventh penalty corner had HBL goalkeeper Ejaz Khokhar not thwarted the attack.

Steel Mills finally pulled the leveller on their eighth penalty corner in the 29th minute when Kashif Ali sent the ball in the left corner of the cage with an angular effort.

The bankers came close to scoring again but Azlan’s hit sailed over the bar three minutes into second half. Rashid Imran also squandered an opportunity for the bankers as he missed a perfect pass in the 53rd minute.

While the bankers were finding it hard to move ahead, it was the winners who managed to net their second when Mohammad Yaseen rounded Ejaz to slot home from left in the 61st minute.

The bankers’ miseries were compounded as they were reduced to 10 players when Rashid received temporary suspension the next minute.

Now it was Steel Mills who started making weaving runs through HBL defences to mount more pressure. Mohammad Imran, though attempted from the top of the semi-circle, but missed the target closely in the 65th minute.

Imran once again tested Ejaz two minutes later through a reverse hit only to see goalkeeper thwart the attack.

The bankers buckled under as Steel Mills put enormous pressure to score the third. This time Ejaz failed as winners scored the final goal on 10th penalty corner through Liaquat Ali off a rebound from goalkeeper four minutes before time.

PIA, who were in fine form earlier in the tournament, nosedived as Wapda opened the scoring in the 25th minute through skipper Rehan Butt. PIA were shocked as Waqas Sharif put Wapda ahead in the 31st minute, while he got his double seconds before the halftime whistle.

Although the winners lost Rana Asif after he was yellow-carded in the 46th minute, yet they didn’t lose their tempo and rhythm. PIA were also forced to play with 10 players in the 49th minute when Yasir Islam received a yellow card.

As PIA looked visibly fatigued and drained by now, Wapda completed the tally with rasping Asif Michael hit that gave PIA goalkeeper Nasir Ahmad no chance in the 64th minute.

Steel Mills will face Wapda in Sunday’s final at 4.30pm, while HBL meet PIA in the third place playoff at 10.00am.