LAHORE, Feb 6: Left-winger Rashid Noor fired the lone 56th-minute goal as Sahiwal managed a 1-0 win over NWFP in the final of the National Under-13 Festival of Football at the Model Town Football Academy (MTFA) Ground on Friday afternoon.

The match had its tense moments as both teams missed three sure chances in the first half. Wajidullah, Naheedullah and Asad Khan failed to capitalise in the fifth, 17th and 33rd minutes while Rashid Noor (twice) and Bilal (once) failed to accomplish the task with Usman Khan in brilliant form under the bar.

Despite being underdogs, NWFP, coached by Saeedullah, put up stubborn display to keep the score line 0-0 at interval.

The second session saw Sahiwal, playing under the captaincy of Noman Ibrahim, stepping on to the field with a new game plan. A left flank free-kick caused panic on the edge of the NWFP area and Rashid Noor lobbed the ball towards the cage. Keeper Usman missed its flight to find that it landing behind him.

Lahore Nazim Mian Amer Mehmood, the chief guest on the occasion, presented Sahiwal’s skipper Mohammad Bilal the winning trophy and gold medals. In addition MTFA’s President Mian Rizwan Ali presented the team Rs50,000. NWFP’s captain Mohammad Nadeem had remain content with silver medals and Rs20,000. Punjab’s captain Adnan Ayub took the third-place trophy and Rs20,000.

Balochistan’s Mohammad Ibrahim was declared Most Valuable Player (MVP) and he pocketed Rs5,000 while leading marksman Mohammad Bilal (Sahiwal, 7 goals) and best goalkeeper the Bannu-born Usman Khan (NWFP) also took Rs5,000 each. The Fair Play trophy went to MTFA along with a sum to Rs10,000.

The final was supervised by referee Ghulam Mohammad Samad (Quetta), supported on the line by Shahid Hussain (Okara), Akhtar Hussain (Sargodha), Fiaz Siddiqui (4th official) under match commissioner Arif Siddiqui and referee assessor Rauf Bari.

FINAL STANDINGS: Sahiwal (1), NWFP (2), Punjab (3), Karachi (4), Sindh (5), Sargodha (6), Balochistan (7), Northern Areas (8), Dir (9), Azad Jammu & Kashmir (10), Lahore’s Wohaib FC (10), Lahore’s Model Town Football Academy (12). —Agencies