KARACHI, March 30: After a tough neck-to-neck competition between two equally-matched teams on Sunday, ZU Football Academy finally triumphed over Malik United 6-5 in the 1st Under-15 Youth football championship underway at a local stadium here.

Two-goal Ali Raza drew first blood for the winners when he scored in the fourth minute of the match followed by another by teammate Hassan in the eighth minute. The 2-0 score prompted Malik United to quickly get into action too — the pressure was eased by Saif in the 11th minute.

This started a tug of war between the two sides that went on till the very end with Shabaz (16th and 33rd minutes), Ali Raza (36th) and Hassan (32nd minute) adding to the winners’ tally.

Meanwhile Saif scored his second for the losing outfit in the 19th minute followed by Ashar (27th and 30th minutes) and Shahzar (26th minute).

In other academy matches, Karachi United beat Hussaini Sports Club 5-0 while there was a tie between Karachi Football Academy and Gharibshah M’Dan (3-3). A day prior, Taj Academy also drew with Gulshan Soccer 1-1.

The day saw its share of walkovers too. Laurentian FC, Taj Academy, Karachi All-Stars and Real Soccer Academy were all awarded two goals each as a consequence of their rivals not showing up at the ground on time.

In the schools category, Bayview Academy beat Generation School 1-0, with Farhan Anwar scoring for the winners in the 17th minute.

A day earlier, St Patrick’s High School beat Beaconhouse PECHS 2-1 while Bayview High School registered a win against City School Nazimabad 1-0.