January 16, 2008	Wednesday	Muharram 06, 1429

LAHORE, Jan 15: A hat-trick by midfielder Yasir Afridi steered Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) to an overwhelming 3-0 win against Chaman’s Afghan Club on Tuesday in the Pakistan Premier Football League as four matches were decided in different cities of the country.

Yasir, who represented Pakistan in the 2005 SAF Championship, opened the scoring for KRL in the 58th minute and added two more in the 78th and 80th minutes after a scoreless first half at the KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi.

It was the ninth hat-trick of the event. Earlier, Arif Mehmood (Wapda) recorded two hat-tricks while Adeel Ahmed (KRL), Abdul Rehman (KPT), Imran Hussain (Army), Nomi Martin Gill (Navy), Muhammad Rasool (KRL), Zulfiqar Ali Shah (Wapda) made one each.

KRL, now in the third spot, behind Army (47 points) and Wapda (46), have 45 points from their 22 outings.

Meanwhile, Habib Bank Limited (HBL) earned a slim win against the Punjab Medical College (PMC), Faisalabad, at the latter’s ground.

HBL who have completed 23 matches, now have 23 points as compared to PMC’s 14 from 21 games.

The clash between Karachi Port Trust (KPT) and Railways resulted in KPT defeating their rivals 1-0.

At the Chauburji University Ground, double SAF Games gold medallist Abdul Aziz struck a late goal to help National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) 1-1 draw against Lahore’s Wohaib Club.

The Wohaib-NBP affair provided goals in the closing minutes of each half.

Thursday fixtures:

PMC vs NBP (PMC Ground, Faisalabad); WAPDA vs KESC (Railway Stadium, Lahore); RAILWAYS vs PIA (Railway Stadium, Lahore); WOHAIB CLUB vs KPT (University Ground, Lahore); ARMY vs AFGHAN CLUB (Army Stadium, Rawalpindi).