LAHORE: National Bank of Pakistan and Wapda cruised into the final of the second Chief of Naval Staff All-Pakistan Hockey Championship here at the National Hockey Stadium on Saturday.

While the bankers fought hard to edge out Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) on penalty-shoot out 3-2 after being locked 1-1 at the regulation time, Wapda registered a facile 4-1 victory over Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited in the second semi-final.

The bankers had a good number of international players, but the way SSGC who mainly comprises young players, gave them tough time was a treat to watch. It was mainly a midfield game during the first quarter as no team was ready to attack a lot.

The bankers, however, broke the ice first when their international Abu Bakar Mahmood’s deceptive angular flag push found the left corner to convert a penalty-corner in the very first minute of the second quarter. The slim lead remained intact till the end of the first half.

In the third quarter, NBP showed fast-paced game but their forwards failed to score due to agile work by goalkeeper Amjad of the SSGC.

In the initial minutes of the last quarter, Amjad again foiled two good attempts of NBP. In the last ten minutes of the play, SSGC fought well However, in the last 10 minutes of the match SSGC started severe attack on NBP and finally their efforts bore fruits in the last minute of play when Rana Sohail scored the equaliser.

The shoot-out process was also exciting as NBP could cash in on three while SSGC two.

In the second semi-final, a hat-trick by international Aleem Bilal enabled Wapda to crush SNGPL by a big margin of 4-1. SNGPL, comprising mostly on new players, wasted many goal scoring opportunities. WAPDA studded with a number of internationals availed four of their five penalty corners while SNGPL failed to convert a single out of seven that came their way.

SNGPL had more of the play in the first half but trailed 1-2. The third quarter saw more or less an even game and the scoreline didn’t change. Wapda with a strong bench carried out quick and clever substitutions in the last quarter and added three goals all through penalty corner. The fourth goal came off from Tauseeq Arshad. For SNGPL, Samiullah scored the solitary goal.

Published in Dawn, October 7th, 2018