LAHORE, Nov 15: Holders Wapda once again occupied the second spot when they struck once in each half to beat Habib Bank Limited (HBL) 2-0 at Lahore’s Railway Stadium while Punjab Medical College (PMC) failed to complete a double over PIA to suffer a 1-2 defeat despite an early lead at the PMC Ground, Faisalabad, in the two Pakistan Premier Football League (PPFL) matches played on Saturday.

Wapda gave no room to their rivals in the 2-0 win. Both were in action inside six minutes. Right fullback Mohammad Shahid sent a scorching drive past HBL’s keeper in the 48th second but only to see the ball rattling the cross bar.

The Gujranwala-born left fullback Akram Masih then came into action when he opened the scoring in the sixth minute. He timed his jump to perfection when striker Zahid Hameed swept the ball in from a corner.

The bankers made their first positive move in the 21st minute but Wapda’s keeper Abdul Aziz blocked Zakir Lashari’s effort. Akram might have scored his second in the 42nd minute but his close-range header smacked the left post. Wapda led 1-0 at interval.

HBL, led by Shakir Hussain, went all out for an equaliser in the second session but Lashari, Khayal Mohammad and Ibrahim failed to create an impression on Wapda’s winger Naveed Akram and central defender Ishfaq Ahmed.

Spearhead Arif Mahmood sealed the fate of the match in the 88th minute when he raced on to substitute Khuda Bakhsh’s ball to slice it past Sajid on the second attempt. It was Arif’s 12th goal of the event.

Meanwhile, SAF Games 2006 gold winner Shakir Lashari raised his tally to 14 when he snatched the lovely winner against PMC. The home team, which caused a sensational win over PIA in the first leg at Karachi, took an early lead when striker Bashir Ahmed slammed the ball in with the stopwatch showing 19 minutes.

Down by 0-1 at the interval, PIA played the game with authoritative rhythm and reduced the arrears through central defender Haji Mohammad in the 52nd minute. Shakir Lashari struck the winner in the 78th minute. He is now four goals behind the leading hit man, KRL’s Mohammad Rasool, who has 18 goals.

Sunday’s fixture: Khan Research Laboratories v Afghan FC at KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi, at 3.00pm.—Agencies