QUETTA: Quetta and Dukki edged past Gwadar and Chaman in the respective semifinals to reach the final of PPL Balochistan Football Cup 2018 which is scheduled to be played on March 30 at the Sadiq Shaheed Football Stadium (Malibagh).

In the first semi-final, Dukki’s Ghulam Hussain scored two goals in the second half to lead his team to a 2-1 victory over Gwadar. Gwadar maintained their lead in the first half giving no chance to Dukki players. However, Dukki changed their forward line strategy by bringing Hussain who scored an equalizer bringing back his team into the game. Moments later, he scored the second goal at rebound through header earning victory for his team. Hussain was declared Man of the Match for his outstanding performance.

In the second semi-final, a thrilling encounter between the two football giants of Balochistan, Quetta and Chaman was seen which resulted in a goal-less draw in the allotted time, thus leading to penalty kicks followed by penalties. Quetta’s goal-keeper Javed Akhtar, declared Man of the Match, defended the penalty kicks brilliantly against Chaman and helped Quetta win the match with scores of 6-5 at their home ground in front of a jam-packed audience at Malibagh Stadium.

Published in Dawn, March 30th, 2018