KARACHI, Sept 19: Sindh Qalandars became inaugural Super Hockey League champions with a hard-fought 4-3 triumph over Northern Cavaliers thanks to a third quarter penalty corner conversion by Gohar Rasool late Sunday night.

Cavaliers mounted pressure from the first whistle when they attacked through Dilawar Hussain on the penalty corner which was cleared by Qalandars goalkeeper Ahmad Alam in the seventh minute.

Sindh Qalandars came near scoring but Kashif Jawwad failed to control a long ball before Cavaliers goalkeeper Nasir Ali cleared the ball to safety in the 15th minute at Hockey Club of Pakistan.

Rashid Imran deflected a Dilip Tirkey ball a minute before the end of the opening quarter to give Qalandars a 1-0 lead.

Cavaliers took three minutes into second quarter to put the game on an even keel when Mohammad Nadeem slotted home with a straight hit that should have been stopped by aging Ahmad who was beaten.

Coming back into the game from goal down, Cavaliers not only equalised, they went 2-1 ahead when Rehan Butt, the Player-of-the-Match, rifled home after beating Ahmad.

Breathing down Cavaliers’ neck, Qalandars restored parity when Kashif cashed in on a defensive lapse and netted through a reverse flick in the 28th minute.

Rehan was brilliant when provided a perfect pass but Cavaliers missed the opportunity as Arjun Halappa took too much time to act and was eventually dispossessed in the 31st minute.

Cavaliers seemed to have scored on a short corner but umpire Zulfiqar Haider denied ruling a foul the next minute.

The see-saw game proceeded with yet another goal, this time Halappa finding the target on an indirect drill two minutes before the end of second quarter.

Still chasing Cavaliers, Qalandars did not stop as Adnan Zakir’s tap-in from close range made it 3-3 barely few seconds after start of the third quarter.

One the other end Cavaliers were also operating continuously by forcing penalty corners but Rehan’s indirect effort in the 42nd minute could not find the target.

Cavaliers again missed when Mudassir squandered despite a promising opening near the goalmouth. Gohar’s low along-the-carpet push past Nasir broke the deadlock in the 51st minute.

The fourth goal must have boosted the morale of Qalandars who mounted pressure and Mukhtar Ahmad tried to stretch the lead only to be denied by promising and young goalkeeper Nasir.

Nasir was again vigilant when he thwarted on Qalandars’ fourth penalty corner 62nd minute.

Cavaliers should have made it 4-4 a minute later but Akhtar Ali was guilty of wasting a golden opportunity when he failed to control a loose ball with Ahmad out of his line and beaten.

Qalandars too missed a chance when Rashid failed to connect a Kashif pass from left in the 66th minute, while Nadeem’s reverse hit sailed wide off target in the dying seconds of the game. Zulfiqar disallowed an effort seconds before time, although it seemed that ball went off a Qalandars defender’s stick.

THIRD POSITION: Shan-e-Punjab outplayed Baloch Lions 3-0 to settle at third spot in a third position playoff on Saturday night.