September 04, 2008	Thursday	Ramazan 3, 1429

KARACHI, Sept 3: Ghani XI beat Baloch Mujahid 2-0 while Lal Bakhsh Memorial levelled with Gharib Nawaz Dalmia 3-3 in the two KASB Premier League Football (PLF) matches played under floodlights at the City District Government Karachi (CDGK) Ground on Tuesday night.

A barren first half in the Ghani XI and Baloch Mujahid encounter saw Ghani’s frontrunners Atif Ali, Mohammad Nadeem, Hashmatullah and Gul Mohammad shooting off target while all the attempts by Baloch’s stikers Abdul Karim and Taj Mohammad and midfielder Mohammad Hanif were blocked by Ghani’s goalkeeper Khair Mohammad.

But the second session saw Ghani XI finally managing to score through Mohammad Nadeem and Hashmatullah. The first goal came in the 46th minute, when their striker Nadeem converted midfielder Jamaluddin’s cross pass from the left by taking aim from just outside the penalty area to send it past goalkeeper Abdul Majeed. Then in the 77th minute, Ghani’s other striker Hashmatullah converted Nadeem’s pass to change the score line to 2-0.

Ghani XI so far have four points from their three matches while having lost both their matches, Baloch Mujahid have yet to open score.

The second match between Lal Bakhsh Memorial and Gharib Nawaz Dalmia had Lal Bakhsh leading by 3-0 when midfielder Naseer Ahmed’s cross pass was converted by striker Nur Hussain in the 24th minute followed by another cross pass, also from Naseer, converted by striker Zafar Majeed in the 50th and Naseer’s own contribution two minutes later.

But Gharib Nawaz then managed a spectacular comeback thanks to plenty of help from their opponents. First midfielder Shahid Saleem’s hit from the penalty area was sent inside the goal thanks to a misunderstanding between Lal Bakhsh’s defender Ghulam Nabi and their goalie Gulzar Hussain in the 69th minute.

The 75th minute saw Shahid Saleem creating an opportunity for Gharib Nawaz’s striker and skipper Mohammad Saeed who made no mistake in converting while reducing the deficit to 3-2.

This was followed by another own goal by Lal Bakhsh given to Gharib Nawaz in the 83rd minute to change the entire situation of the match from a sure win to a 3-3 draw.

As a result of the draw, both teams opened their individual accounts with a point each.