KARACHI: National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) were left to rue an early penalty miss as they succumbed to a late strike by Sardar Abbas in a 1-0 loss to Ashraf Sugar Mills (ASM) in the opening match of the National Challenge Cup here at the KPT Stadium on Saturday.

ASM goalkeeper Arbaz Ali dived to save Maqbool’s penalty in the second minute and he was key in keeping NBP at bay throughout the 90 minutes before Sardar struck on a quick counterattack in stoppage time.

The defeat meant NBP will now have to win by a good margin against Falcon FC in their next match on Wednesday to keep alive their hopes of progressing from Group ‘A’.

With only the group winners advancing to the quarter-finals from the eight three-team groups, even a victory wouldn’t be enough for NBP and they will have to depend on the result of the ASM-Falcon match next Sunday to see if they advance.

“We didn’t have our luck in front of the goal,” NBP coach Nasir Ismail told Dawn. “We missed a penalty and we didn’t capitalise on the chances we had.”

ASM coach Najeebullah Najmi, meanwhile, was delighted with the result. “It’s a really big win because NBP were the favourites in our section,” he told Dawn. “This victory will help boost the morale of the team and puts us in a good position to reach the quarters which is very important.”

Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2018