May 04, 2008	Sunday	Rabi-us-Sani 27, 1429

KARACHI, May 3: Mohammad Akmal struck late in the second half to help Steel Mills force a 1-1 draw with KESC in the National Challenge Cup soccer at CDGK Stadium on Saturday.

After remaining goalless in the opening session, KESC moved ahead in the 66th minute when Jawaid Hamza found the cage to give his side the lead.

Steel Mills took exactly 20 minutes to level the score through Akmal.

In another match, Karachi Port Trust (KPT) outplayed Sindh Government Press (SGP) 2-0 at Peoples Sports Complex.

SGP were stunned with the game barely few seconds old as Fareed Majeed rattled the opponents with the opening goal which he slotted home a minute and 29 seconds after the start.

Without giving their opponents a chance to recover and attack, KPT came back after the lemons to score yet another goal in the second half.

The winners went 2-0 up in the 80th minute, this time Abdul Qayyum received a pass from Naseer Ahmad before he lobbed the ball with ease over the onrushing SGP goalkeeper Mohammad Omar.

SGP, however, were still looking for their opening goal and perhaps an equaliser as they started making deep inroads, especially from the right.

They came near reducing the margin but lanky Jaleel Ahmad’s drive just from the edge of the box was well taken by KPT goalkeeper Zulfiqar Ali.

The losers once again mounted pressure and had their best chance to reduce the deficit but Majid Bahadur’s header off a corner kick was saved and parried to safety by a KPT defender.

Jaleel, who was looking dangerous with his dribbling runs down from right, was marked by KPT defenders after his earlier try.

KPT finally emerged winners after containing their opponents and retaining the lead till the end.

Sunday’s fixtures: KRL v PEL at Peoples Sports Complex, Navy v PAF at CDGK Stadium.