KARACHI, Oct 19: PAF and Railways reached knock-out stage after scoring identical victories in the league phase of the President PFF Cup football championship Saturday.

The airmen outplayed City District Government Karachi (CDGK) 2-1 thanks to a late second half winner from Mohammad Iqbal at People’s Sports Complex to qualify from Group `C’ alongwith Habib Bank.

Railways, meanwhile, conceded an early goal against PWD but went through to the next stage of the tournament with 2-1 triumph.

PAF launched offensives in the first half but wasted opportunities when Mohammad Arshad and Tahir Hussain were prevented by Mahmood Akhtar and goalkeeper Noor Mohammad.

CDGK surprisingly took the lead through Abdur Rahman who dodged past a PAF defender and scored with a 25-yard shot in the 28th minute.

But it was CDGK’s last fling as PAF’s Mohammad Tahir slammed home from 20 yards with a volley to put the match on an even keel after receiving an Ibrar Hussain cross in the 62nd minute.

CDGK paid the price for a 87th minute foul and Mohammad Iqbal duly converted the resultant penalty that sent CDGK crashing out of the tournament after they lost their second match.

Noman Chowdhry’s late effort enabled Railways oust PWD of the contest after the latter suffered their second defeat.

Railways and PIA advanced into second round from Group `B’.

Railways controlled the game from the start and pressed for the opening goal which never came. Instead PWD shocked their rivals with a 39th minute Tajuddin strike.

Though Railways went 1-0 down, they continued their dominance after the break with regular attacks. PWD finally crumbled and Tariq Jawaid deceived the goalkeeper Sajid Ali to get the equaliser, firing in a Nasir Ali pass in the 66th minute.

Sajid was again stunned by a Railways strike and conceded another when he was beaten by Noman who lobbed the ball in the 86th minute.

Home favourites Karachi Port Trust (KPT) secured full points after they routed a disjointed Pakistan Ordnance Factories (POF) 3-1 with two late second half raids.

The local side got off to a stunning start with continuous onslaughts on the POF goal and were duly rewarded with a penalty with the game just 10 minutes old.

Mohammad Akhtar converted the spot kick after POF’s bearded goalkeeper M. Aslam committed a foul on onrushing Ghulam Farooq near citadel.

Referee Imtiaz Ali Shah awarded KPT a penalty, Aslam and his team-members protested, but the referee stuck to his decision and instead showed a yellow card to Aslam.

KPT remained impressive throughout the first session and wrecked havoc in POF defences, but were left ruing the missed golden opportunities.

Fareed Majeed and Asif Ayub were continuously tormenting POF defenders with their dribbling runs but KPT fluffed at least three promising openings before the halftime whistle.

Fareed first supplied a 15th-minute pass to Rauf Rahman who missed the target, KPT strikers squandered another goal-scoring chance when they were provided a cross from Asif in the 17th minute. In the 23rd minute, Asif’s 16-yard shot went wide off the goal.

POF’s Jawaid Iqbal received a yellow in the 33rd minute for rough play.

KPT could have got another penalty in the 50th minute, but all they got was a free kick when POF’s Wajahat Siddiqi chopped Ghulam Farooq down in the box.

POF came into the field with an improved performance after the break and levelled the score 1-1 with a Manzoor Ahmad goal in the 54th minute.

Charged after the equaliser, POF made some more attacks but Yasir’s skidding drive was well taken by KPT goalkeeper in the 62nd minute.

But KPT proved their superiority when they again went 2-1 ahead with a booming Nawaz Rahman long-range shot from outside the box that crashed into the goal off a defender on 64 minutes.

Fareed’s excellent approach play this time worked as his diagonal pass was slammed home in the 79th minute by Mohammad Akhtar.

KPT came within a whisker of scoring in the dying minutes of the game when substitute Mohammad Amin shook the post with Aslam beaten. Fareed wasted a gilt-edged chance after he failed to collect a rebound from Aslam following a late strike.

Sunday’s fixtures:

Allied Bank v KWSB at 11.45am; NBP v City District Government Quetta at 1.45pm; Pakistan Navy v PTCL at 3.45pm.