January 04, 2008	Friday	Zilhaj 24, 1428

LAHORE, Jan 3: While a dying minute goal by Imran Hussain, helped defending champions Army beat National Bank of Pakistan 1-0, Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) and Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC) played a goalless draw in Pakistan Premier Soccer League at different grounds on Thursday.

Playing on home ground in Rawalpindi, Army who are on the way to complete a hat-trick by winning the event fought hard throughout the 90 minutes play before Imran’s efforts bore fruit to settle the issue. With the win the point tally of Army now stands at 43 from 19 matches, while NBP so far has grabbed 36 points from 20 matches.

The KRL missed several chances in both halfs and had to blame themselves for losing two points against the KESC, a team who were in B-Division two years ago. Kahuta-based KRL picked up 36 points from 19 matches while the KESC completed 20 matches with 32 points.

In other matches, Navy staged recovery to beat PIA 2-1 at Naval Complex, Karachi. PIA had opened the scoring in the 15th minute through winger Ali Adeem Shahzad. Nomi Martin Gill made it 1-1 in the dying minutes of the first half for the winners, before Mohammad Basharat struck the winners in the 86th minute.

It was the 19th match for both the teams. PIA, the most successful team in domestic soccer of Pakistan with nine titles, had made 30 points while Navy had 27.

The PTV suffered a 2-1 defeat at the hands of HBL at Jinnah Stadium, Islamabad, with all goals coming in the final 24 minutes of game. The bankers broke the ice in the 66th minute through striker Aurangzeb. The PTV hit back through striker Naimatullah in the 74th minute. But Khayal Mohammad banged home in the 78th minute enabling HBL to gain full three points.

Saturday’s fixture:

Wapda vs Wohaib (Railway Stadium); Army VS KPT (Army Stadium); KRL vs PIA (KRL Stadium); Navy vs HBL (Navy Complex); PTV vs NBP (Jinnah Stadium);

PMC vs Afghan FC (PMC Ground).