HYDERABAD, April 18 International striker Asif Mehmood saved Navy from undergoing the agony of playing another draw when his late strike pushed the seamen to an unimpressive 1-0 win over hosts DFA Hyderabad in Group 'D' of the NBP National Football Challenge Cup (NFCC) at the Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (HESCO) Stadium on Saturday.

The day's other two matches saw Wapda giving Higher Education Commission (HEC) an 8-0 thrashing in Group 'A' and Karachi Port Trust (KPT) edging past Pak Elektron Limited (PEL) 2-1 in the other Group 'D' encounter.

Holders Navy, who drew 1-1 with PEL on the opening day, were expected to win by a bigger margin but the stubborn Hyderabad team held territorial advantage for most of the game. It was 0-0 until the 73rd minute when Asif Mehmood while playing a fine one-two with Farhan, gently pushed the ball into the left corner.

Wapda's strikers Rizwan Khan (65th, 82nd and 88th minutes) and Mohammad Ayaz (14th, 31st and 44th minutes) both earned hat-tricks while whipping HEC.

In the KPT-PEL match that the port men won 2-1, KPT's striker Mohammad Naseer Baloch opened the score in the 65th minute after a barren first half. PEL's Asmatullah equalised in the next two minutes and the winner was scored by KPT's Mohammad Akhtar in the 87th minute. Wapda and HBL have now earned quarter-final spots from Group 'A' while holders Navy need to at least draw against KPT in their next match.—Agencies