NBP 2 Army 1

LAHORE, Jan 21: A goal in the 64th minute by captain Hayat Khan, helped Pakistan Air Force (PAF) beat Railways 2-1 and qualify as the fifth team from pool “A” in the 50th national hockey championship departmental qualifying round on the last day of pool matches at the National Hockey Stadium on Tuesday.

Eight teams PIA, Wapda, NBP, PTCL, Army, HBL, Police, and ABL have already qualified for the final round.

Railways took the lead in the first half but the airmen came back strongly in the second session scoring twice to snatch victory.

Against the run of play Railways went ahead through Mahmood in the 28th minute and maintained their lead till half time.

PAF fought back scoring the equaliser in the 42nd minute through a field effort by Zeeshan and Hayat found the net in the 64th minute to ensure team’s passage into the next round.

Both the teams missed two penalty corners.

In another match which was only of academic interest, National Bank of Pakistan defeated Army 2-1. Both the teams have already entered the final round.

After a goalless first half, NBP went ahead 2-0 when Adnan Maqsood put the bankers ahead converting a penalty corner in the 39th minute. Muhammad Anis doubled the lead scoring a field goal in the 65th minute.

Muhammad Irfan reduced the margin for Army in the 69th minute.

Pool standings (team, match, win, draw, loss, points).

Pool ‘A’

PIA 6 6 0 0 18

NBP 6 5 0 1 15

Army 6 3 0 3 9

Police 6 2 2 2 8

PAF 6 1 1 4 4

Railways 6 1 0 5 3

PTV 6 0 0 6 0

Pool ‘B’

Wapda 7 6 1 0 19

PTCL 7 5 1 1 16

HBL 7 4 2 1 14

ABL 7 4 2 1 14

Customs 7 3 0 4 9

Navy 7 1 0 6 3

POF 7 1 0 6 3

UGC 7 0 0 7 0

Wednesday’s fixtures: PAF v Customs (for ninth position) at 10.30am. PIA v Wapda (final) at 2.30pm.