Cavaliers 2 Dynamos 1

Lions 2 Falcons 2

KARACHI, Sept 9: Spurred by a Mahmood Ali winner and fine goalkeeping by Nasir Ali, Northern Cavaliers rode past Capital Dynamos 2-1 in Super Hockey League at Hockey Club of Pakistan under lights on Friday.

After toiling hard in the first quarter, Dynamos took advantage of a defensive lapse in the 15th minute when Indian Gagan Ajit Singh swept home a loose ball to open the scoring.

Gagan, named the Player-of-the-Match, was the pick of the Dynamos attack which certainly looked unimpressive and stale against relatively fit Cavaliers. It was Nasir’s fine display of goalkeeping that kept Gagan at bay when the custodian padded away to safety the Indian’s reverse flick in the 18th minute.

Just two minutes later, Dynamos came near scoring again but were frustrated when an Ishtiaq Ahmad pass to Waqas Akbar was well cleared by a Cavaliers defender. Mudassir Ali Khan of Dynamos squared a perfect minus pass to Shahid Rabbani whose full-blooded effort was clawed away by Nasir.

It was over for Dynamos as they found themselves in a tight spot before ripping Cavaliers charges they launched midway in the second quarter which was evident from the seven penalty corners they earned.

The attacking game by Cavaliers put immense pressure on one of the underdogs Dynamos as spring-heeled Pakistan striker Rehan Butt put the game on an even keel with on an indirect drill in the 26th minute.

Dynamos goalkeeper Amanullah, another young goalie thwarted an attempt when he made a fine save on a powerful Mohammad Nadeem try on a short corner in the 31st minute.

On the other end Gagan was the only striker offering resistance from Dynamos but had to return empty-handed when his rasping hit from the top of the circle could not cause problem for a confident Nasir.

Pushing Dynamos under swift attacks, Cavaliers grabbed the match-winner in the 34th minute after Indian Arjun Hallapa assisted an onrushing Mahmood who neatly slotted the ball home to gain precious points for his side.

A penalty corner effort by Cavaliers’ Mohammad Imran was checked by a Dyanmos defender late in the third quarter, while Mudassir missed a sitter in the dying moments of the quarter.

It was again Gagan who was trying to level the score but his feeble tap-in from close range was timely kicked to safety by Nasir in the 56th minute.

Dynamos made a rare dangerous inroad, this time through Shahid who came into action from the top of the semi-circle only to see Nasir producing a stupendous save, stretching to his left to thwart the attack.

Sultan Ashraf of Cavaliers was carried off by officials in the dying moments of the game after being injured, while the winners lost two more players when Nadeem and Akhtar Ali were yellow carded barely two minutes from the final hooter.

Zakirullah’s extra time goal gave Baloch Lions a 2-1 victory over Frontier Falcons.

Falcons went 1-0 ahead with a Rahim Khan effort in the 19th minute before Lions equalised through Shakeel Abbasi on a penalty corner in the 56th minute.

Zakir eventually broke the deadlock with a strike a minute into over time.

Saturday’s fixture:

Sindh Qalandars v Capital Dynamos at 6.30pm; Shan-e-Punjab v Northern Cavaliers at 9.30pm.