KARACHI: Arif Mehmood scored twice again as Wapda made it five wins in a row in the Pakistan Premier Football League (PPFL) after beating K-Electric 3-1 on Tuesday.

In a match between last season’s second and third-placed teams at the Railways Stadium in Lahore, Arif opened the scoring in the seventh minute before putting Wapda 2-0 up five minutes past the half-hour mark.

It was the second time in two games the veteran striker had scored a brace following his double in Wapda’s 4-0 thrashing of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) in their last outing.

Last season’s runners-up K-Electric made sure they went into half-time with a one-goal deficit when Mohammad Rasool scored in the last minute of the first-half.

With 45 minutes to rescue a point, K-Electric ramped up the pressure but the goal came at the other end when Ghazanfar scored for Wapda in the 81st to end their hopes of a draw and extend his side’s winning run.

Having drawn four and lost one of their opening five games of the season, Wapda moved into fifth place with 19 points from 10 matches.

They are a point behind third-placed K-Electric and PIA, in fourth, with both teams having played a game more.

In the day’s early kick-off, PIA bounced back from their hammering by Wapda by edging past Pakistan Railways 1-0 thanks to Zeeshan Ali’s strike five minutes from time, a vital boost ahead of facing K-Electric in their next match on Friday.

Railways remain in the relegation zone with six points from 11 matches, three points ahead of bottom-placed Baloch FC Quetta who have played a game more.

Pakistan Army, with 29 points from 14 matches, have an eight-point lead over second-placed Pakistan Air Force (PAF) at the top of the table. PAF have two games in hand over the league leaders.

NAVY MAKE VICTORIOUS START

Meanwhile, Pakistan Navy made a winning start in their quest for promotion to the PPFL on Tuesday.

Goals in either half by Naveed Ahmed and Fazal gave Navy, relegated last season, a 2-1 win over Falcon Company in their opening Group ‘B’ match of departmental-leg of the second-division Pakistan Football Federation League (PFFL).

Pakistan Steel are the other team in the group with the top team from the group advancing to a mini-league Group 2 which will see group winners from groups ‘D’, ‘F’ and ‘G’.

The winner of Group 2 will face the winner of Group 1 — which will have group winners from ‘A’, ‘C’ and ‘E’ contesting — to decide which team is promoted to the PPFL from the departmental-leg.

Pakistan Paper Works Department (PPWD) took control of Group ‘F’ after Asif Ali’s 63rd-minute strike here at the KMC Stadium gave them a 1-0 win over Pakistan Police with Ashraf Sugar Mills the other team in that section.

Pakistan Television (PTV) needed a goal by Sanaullah deep into stoppage-time to seal a 2-1 victory over Saif Textile in their Group ‘G’ opener ahead of their second and final preliminary round fixture against Balochistan United.

Elsewhere, the first qualifying fixture for the club-leg saw Islamabad’s Huma FC playing a goalless draw with Darra Tigers FC of Fata.

Published in Dawn, November 26th, 2014